First time at UK Black Pride? Mine surpassed every expectation
Opinion: 'same time next year?' Attitude's Aaron Sugg attends his first UK Black Pride
By Aaron Sugg
UK Black Pride 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the world’s largest annual celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, and Middle Eastern heritage. Taking over Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park yesterday (10 August), this year’s milestone event was a vibrant mix of party and protest that united the community in a way that I will never forget. This is Attitude’s Aaron Sugg reporting on his first time at UK Black Pride.
I was not sure what to expect from my first UK Black Pride, but it turned out to be one of my favourite pride celebrations yet.
Having been to Brighton & Hove Pride, Pride in London and Trans Pride, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was coming. But UK Black Pride surpassed every expectation.
From the moment I stepped out of Stratford tube station, the atmosphere just felt right. The route to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was lined with queer people of colour, their white friends, partners, and allies from every imaginable background making their way to the annual event. Before I even entered, one thing was clear: UK Black Pride is for everyone.
Inside UK Black Pride 2025, plenty of food stalls served Caribbean street food. The smells of jerk chicken and jollof rice were enough to make you brave the queue of hungry gays.
The festival had three stages: the main stage, the dance tent and the community stage, plus two main bar areas that lined the festival. The sounds of R&B and house music paired perfectly whilst sipping a tequila lemonade in the sunshine – pathetic fallacy.
“No one is ever alone here” – Lady Phyll
As we made our way over to the main stage, Lady Phyll, CEO and co-founder of UK Black Pride (and Attitude cover star), explained why this event is more than just a party. “UK Black Pride is a space where it’s safe… No one is ever alone here. The amount of people that tell me, ‘Oh, I met my partner here,’ I think, this is beautiful.”
Speaking of the wider LGBTQ+ community, Phyll highlighted how celebrating identity is a rich and layered experience. “There’s a lot that still needs to be done. People creating queer spaces need to understand that we’ve all got different lived experiences, which means we navigate the world differently. Be a bit more intersectional, be a bit more intergenerational in your thinking.”
On her advice for first-time UK Black Pride visitors like myself, Phyll said, “Newcomers will be surprised by the sheer number of people here who are unapologetic, brave, bold and without judgement. The turnout this year is beautiful.”
As I walked through the park, familiar faces started to appear, Heartstopper actress Yasmin Finney and cast members from I Kissed a Boy mixed in with the crowd. Activists and Attitude Pride Award winners like Ted Brown and Jason Jones were present along with younger game-changers like lawyer Olivia Campbell Cavendish.
We spotted “QUEER TALKER STREET WALKER!” Tiara Skye, who stood out like a sore thumb dipped in sparkling rubies, the sun reflecting off her red sequinned gown as she chatted with fans who greeted her like family.
“We are in this together” – Tiara Skye
Speaking exclusively to Attitude, the South African drag artist reflected on the fight for queer rights in her home country. “There is actually a fight in South Africa at the moment about being a Black person and person of colour. I feel like it is an internal fight to try to avoid the fact that we are in this together. People of colour are struggling… there is a pyramid like Abby Lee Miller said, AHH!”
She continued, “Saying Black Lives Matter to me is very important because for a very long time, it didn’t matter. Skin colour has always played a role. So I’m very happy being South African, coloured in South Africa, but a Black person here in the UK. And also my pussy is on fire, period!”
From above, riding the festival’s new ferris wheel, the scale of the celebration was breathtaking (and not just because I’m scared of heights). This is a living example of what Pride should be: People from all walks of life, defined not by skin colour, but by love.
Old friends, families and new connections filled the park. Everyone was themselves: queer men and women holding hands, locking lips without fear of judgement.
Three tents overflowed with empowering voices, musicians and performers. On one side, speeches echoed with messages of pride and activism, on the other, music pulsed through the crowd of dancing half naked bodies leaving no room for doubt – this is a space where we are protected, and a space we need to protect.
“We are all we’ve got” – Durand Bernarr
Headliner, Grammy-nominated musician Durand Bernarr, took to the stage for his second visit to UK Black Pride – this one much different to his first, going from “mooching around” to now “providing an experience.”
“We are all we’ve got, it’s about reaching all sides of us as a community,” he told Attitude. “A lot of the mindsets we have is about I, I, I… and when you start to realise that there is beauty in numbers, when we come together then things can get done.”
He continued: “Don’t be stuntting on these hoes. You know, because there are so many things that we could really be doing for ourselves, first and foremost… it’s all about being around people who are either heading in the direction that you want to be or already there.”
“This is why UK Black Pride is beautiful” – Lady Phyll
With the UK Black Pride celebrating its 20th anniversary, I wondered what Lady Phyll would bring back to the event from its early years. “Some of the people that we’ve lost along the way, that have helped create what is our history. And I’d love to, I guess, bring back a lot more community cohesion as people used to come together without the infighting, but we try not to have it here, and this is why UK Black Pride is beautiful.”
To send off the day, Lady Phyll took to the main stage gathering her team, family and close friends. As I looked behind me at the vast crowd, I was emotional to see an ocean of bodies, not one alike.
I arrived not knowing what to expect. I left knowing this: UK Black Pride is not just an event, it is proof of what happens when we allow love to take up space. Here the insecurities of colour, identity and who you fancy fade into the background (for once), and what is visible is a community thriving, unapologetically. This year, UK Black Pride 2025 gave us that space – and all I can say is, ‘same time next year?’