entrance fees

Would You Be Willing To Pay $28 To Go To The Gay Pride Parade?

Apparently at least one gay pride parade is no longer open to the public — it’s a private, ticketed event. Brighton Pride on August 13 is no longer free. Attendees will have to fork over £17.50, or about USD$28 (for tickets purchased the day of), or £8.50 (for locals who purchase tickets in advance). With an estimated 160,000 attendees last year, Brighton Pride organizers are planning just 45,000 tickets for this year’s event, which will bring in an estimated £375,000. Which sounds decent for organizers, since pride parades are not cheap to put together. But isn’t the whole point of pride to offer one big welcoming rainbow umbrella to the community? Fees, even a token £1, change the entire atmosphere of the event. We’ve already seen how sponsors commercialize the entire affair, but adding a surcharge just to check out the floats all but guarantees some guests — the poor, the young, or just the casual observer — won’t be motivated to take part. [photo via]

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