This Sunday afternoon will see the streets of the West End crammed. Soho Pride, the smaller, younger (prettier?) cousin of London Pride will see street parties and all sorts around the central gay district of town off Old Compton Street and Rupert Street, including the infamous Candy Girls areas.
Our favoured bit to head to will be the natural focal point for the whole thing at Soho Square. In its fifth year, the theme for 2008 is - ahem - 'American-style Summer Camp', which could either be amazingly good fun or a bit calamitous (and either way it's worth going along). Many DJs have been signed up from the frontline of London's world-leading funky house music scene and our hot tip would be to catch Brent Nicholls, who we reckon will bring the afternoon to an uplifting climax from 7pm.
News of course will have reached the Soho Pride organisers that £10,000-worth of funding towards the event from the Mayor of London is no longer to be forthcoming (it will be used for a homophobic-bullying campaign instead, pledges Boris). Sunday may therefore be the last ever Soho Pride if businesses don't step up their contributions and keep it going. Better go along to see what all the fuss is about before it's too late.
More details here, and a handy map of everything is here. And to find out where the Pre- and After-parties are, go here.
What better warm-up for the bank holiday the week after? And with luck we might get a bit of summer, you never know.
Photo from red betty black's photostream
