Mariah Carey to headline Brighton Pride festival

Patrick Barlow
BBC News, South East
PA Media Mariah Carey singing into a microphone. She is wearing a white fluffy jacket and silver earrings. PA Media
Mariah Carey has been announced as the headliner of this year's Brighton Pride festival

Mariah Carey will headline the Brighton Pride festival this summer, organisers have announced.

The singer will take to the stage at the Pride on the Park event in the city's Preston Park on 2 August as the main event for the first day of the festival.

Carey, who has had 19 number one singles, was previously announced as the headliner of the festival in 2020 before the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an announcement on Brighton and Hove Pride's social media accounts, the singer said: "I can't wait to see all of your beautiful faces at Pride on the Park 2025. It's going to be a scorcher."

The show, said to be a UK festival exclusive, will be the first time she has played a live show in the country since a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019.

Brighton Pride managing director, Paul Kemp, said Carey was a "global icon".

"We were so excited to have her join us in 2020 and absolutely gutted the show couldn't go ahead due to pandemic restrictions that summer," he said.

"Pride is always an amazing weekend of celebration and inclusiveness of our city, and this year is going to be incredibly momentous."

Getty Images People line the streets of Brighton for the Brighton Pride parade. There are two police officers in the middle of the road, and hundreds either side of it. Getty Images
About 300,000 people attended the Brighton Pride parade in 2024, organisers said

The American, best known for songs such as Fantasy, Always Be My Baby and All I Want For Christmas Is You, has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.

She headlines Pride and the Park after Girls Aloud took centre stage in 2024 and Black Eyed Peas headlined in 2023.

About 300,000 people attended the Brighton Pride parade in 2024, organisers previously said.

Pride in the Park 2025 will take place on 2 and 3 August with more acts to be announced. Tickets for the event go on sale on 20 February.

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