The Pet Shop Boys, headline act at last weekend's Pride festival in London, perform the Village People classic 'Go West'. Their set, which closed the festival, also included their current single 'Somewhere' and 'It's A Sin'. Neil Tennant told the rapturous audience: "It is beautiful to be here."

London's first day without rain for a month and a record attendance characterized the Pride festival in the capital last weekend. Around 80,000 people marched through the streets of London and 300,000 visited Clapham Common during the day, where the Pride festival was headlined by the Pet Shop Boys, Holly Johnson, Erasure and Gina G. Gay cabinet minister Chris Smith also received an ecstatic reception from the crowd. Organizers were impressed by the amount collected from festival-goers at the three entrances to the Common. A total of £238,310.97 was raised, over £60,000 more than last year's take of £175,000. The increase means that the event should make a profit when the Pride Trust's accounts are audited later in the year. Unusually, the leaders of the three main political parties found themselves backing the same cause by sending messages of support to the event.

Chris Smith said: 'Tony wants' you to know that he wants a Britain free from discrimination and I want to assure you of my commitment to achieving such a society.' A goodwill message from William Hague was read by David Allen, head of Troche, the Tory gay group. Hague wrote: 'Have an enjoyable march and a great festival in the park.' Paddy Ashdown's message read: 'The Pride festival is an opportunity to push the agenda for gay and lesbian equality. This year, Stonewall is doing just that with its Equality 2000 initiative, and it's an agenda that the Liberal Democrats share.'

Traffic reports on Capital Radio warned drivers to stay away from central London and Clapliam. For the first time they gave a reason. And rather than an unspecified "march" - or, worse, a "demonstration" - the reason to stay away from Picadilly Circus and Clapham High Street last Saturday was clearly stated: it was Gay Pride. The reports were not the only things to change. The parade (formerly known as a march) attracted a record 80,000 people, and as the crowd passed Downing Street' the boos and hisses of former years were replaced by cheers and, from some, applause. Few failed to acknowledge that the general election has changed gay politics.

In Clapharn, streams of the proud converged on the festival site from the many rail and tube stations nearby. On arrival, the enormity of the event was clear, not least because the amount of people made it difficult to get anywhere in a hurry. 'Family' products like PG Tips and Pot Noodle joined the impressive list of names backing Pride, and the biggest deployment of Portaloos for any UK festival filled up the area. People trudged between dance tents (and found the Trade tent without lights and music because their generator had run out of diesel after organizers had spent the night programming the light show and drained all the power.)

The market place stalls made the event seem even more like a rock festival: Glastonbury without the mud. Where a rock festival would have hippie tat on sale, Pride offered homo tat.

A seizable proportion of the crowd did not budge from the stage. Early acts ranged from the divine (Texas, introduced by a nervous Chris Evans, who told lesbian jokes) to the ridiculous (Rock Bitch) but people seemed content to stay. Perhaps they were waiting for the politicians. The weekend before at Glastonbury, the new Labour government sent arts minister Mark Fisher to speak to the masses. Pride got its gay cabinet minister Chris Smith, who read out Tony Blair's message of support, while flanked by gay MP Stephen Twigg. Messages followed from William Hague and Paddy Ashdown. Perhaps they were waiting for the balloon release: more than 27,000 red balloons went floating in the sky.

Perhaps they were waiting for the last few acts, who made it the best lineup Pride has ever seen. Gina G followed by Erasure followed by Holly Johnson followed by the Pet Shop Boys. Holly belted out 'The Power Of Love' accompanied by massive fireworks; and the Pet Shop Boys' swan song, Go West', was joined by an extravagant light display. Cameras caught Neil Tennant dancing with the sign language interpreters and - get this - Chris Lowe smiling. "It is beautiful to be here," said Neil.

As the festival site slowly emptied, police reported that they made not a single arrest and had encountered good humor all round. Only one person was detained: a man went voluntarily to Charring Cross station after police became concerned with the official-issue police jacket he was wearing.

It was part of his Pride costume, and he was released without charge. For festival producer Teddy Witherington, the 25th Pride festival was doubly significant. After seven years' involvement, it was to he his last. "When I got back to my hotel room I had the most gorgeous shower of my life," he said. Teddy is off on holiday today before taking over the running of San Francisco Pride in August

This article was taken from The Pink Paper July 11th 1997.
Many thanks to Nicola for letting me have copies of her photos from Pride 97.