Pride In Kent

Everything You Need to Know

From seaside parades to city centre street parties, Kent’s Pride calendar is packed with colourful, community-led celebrations across the Garden of England. Whether you’re looking for family-friendly festivals, live music, or simply a chance to show up and show support, our guide has you covered. Explore upcoming events, browse our map of Kent, and discover the history of Pride in the county below.

Discover All Our Festival Guides for 2026

We’ve made it easier to plan your perfect outing with our additional curated guides. Explore the best festivals in the Garden of England:

🎉 Top Festivals in Kent

🎸 Music Festivals in Kent

🎡  Family-Friendly Festivals in Kent

🍕  Food & Drink Festivals in Kent

🆓  Free Festivals in Kent

🎪 Carnivals, Country Shows, & Fayres In Kent

Pride Events in Kent 

Discover our curated selection of upcoming Pride events in Kent, listed in date order to help you easily plan your next outing in the Garden of England.

Last updated 25th August 2026

Ramsgate & Broadstairs Pride

📍 Where: Ramsgate & Broadstairs, Thanet
🕒 When: 19th & 20th September 2026
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Full details to follow – confirmed date.
Explore Ramsgate: Check out our Thanet Area Guide – covering Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate – for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Ramsgate & Broadstairs Pride

Fundraising Events

Dover Pride

For 2026, Dover Pride will focus on delivering a programme of smaller, community-led activities throughout the year, creating space for connection and creativity across our LGBTQIA+ community.

Past 2026 Prides

Gravesham Pride

📍 Where: Ramsgate & Broadstairs, Thanet
🕒 When: 29th August 2026
🎟️ Price: Free – but must pre-book tickets
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Gravesham Pride returns after a year hiatus with renewed determination ot present a Pride that shows the strength, diversity and spirit of Gravesham. There will be a march, ending up at the Fort Gardens for celebrations, a Pride market, and lots more.
Explore Kent: Check out our Kent Area Guides
🔗 Full Event Details: Gravesham Pride

Medway Pride

📍 Where: Rochester
🕒 When: 22nd August 2026
🎟️ Price: TBC
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Full details to follow. Last year, the parade was followed by a community festival (ticketed) on the Rochester Castle grounds.
Explore Rochester: Check out our Medway Area Guide – covering Rochester, Chatham & Gillingham – for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Medway Pride

Maidstone Pride

📍 Where: Maidstone
🕒 When: June 2026
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Already confirmed for the month-long celebrations are The Big Gay Out – a family-friendly event where Queer and Ally performers entertain, plus stalls and an artisan market. There is also an art exhibition. More details to follow.
Explore Maidstone: Check out our Maidstone Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Pride Maidstone

Pride Canterbury

📍 Where: Canterbury
🕒 When: 6th June 2026 – past event
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Explore Canterbury: Check out our Canterbury Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Pride Canterbury

Dartford Pride

📍 Where: Orchard West
🕒 When: 6th June 2026 – past event
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Explore Dartford: Check out our Dartford Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Dartford Pride

Pride Ashford

📍 Where: Ashford
🕒 When: 20th June 2026 – post event
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly:
Explore Ashford: Check out our Ashford Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Pride Ashford

Herne Bay Pride

📍 Where: Herne Bay
🕒 When: 20th June 2026 – past event
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Now in its fifth year, with the 2026 theme – Community. Full details to follow – confirmed date.
Explore Herne Bay: Check out our Herne Bay Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Herne Bay Pride

Deal Pride

📍 Where: Deal
🕒 When: 11th July 2026. 12Noon-6pm
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Date has been confirmed for the family-friendly Deal Pride. Last year’s fun included the annual parade, activities including music and performances and lots more.
Explore Deal: Check out our Deal & Dover Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Deal Pride

Swale Pride

📍 Where: Isle of Sheppey
🕒 When: 18th July 2026
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Enjoy a day of celebrations on the Isle of Sheppey at Swale Pride 2026. With live entertainment, for family-friendly celebrations with live acts, stalls, food and lots more.
Explore the Isle of Sheppey: Check out our Isle of Sheppey Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Swale Pride

Folkestone Pride

📍 Where: Leas Bandstand, The Leas, Folkestone
🕒 When: 25th July 2026. 12Noon-6pm
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Full details to follow – confirmed date.
Explore Folkestone: Check out our Folkestone Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Folkestone Pride

Faversham Pride

📍 Where: West Faversham Community Centre
🕒 When: 25th July 2026. Times: Pride Day: 11.30am – end time: TBC, Afterparty: TBC
🎟️ Price: Pride Fund Day: Free, Afterparty: £TBC
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Pride Day Event: Fairground fun, drag acts, live music and lots of family fun.
Afterparty: SA night of glitz & glamour for 18 years+.
Explore Faversham: Check out our Faversham Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Faversham Pride

Tonbridge Pride

📍 Where: Tonbridge Castle, Tonbridge
🕒 When: 8th August 2026
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
The fifth annual Pride event, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, features a variety of family-friendly entertainment throughout the day and night.
Explore Tonbridge: Check out our Tonbridge Area Guide for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Tonbridge Pride

Margate Pride

📍 Where: Margate, Thanet
🕒 When: 8th August 2026
🎟️ Price: Free
🐶 Dog Friendly: TBC
Full details to follow.
Explore Margate: Check out our Thanet Area Guide – covering Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate – for local attractions.
🔗 Full Event Details: Margate Pride

🔎 Discover More in the Garden of England

We’ve curated even more ways to explore Kent. Check out our dedicated sections to find your next adventure:

📍 Things To Do in Kent – Your full list of top attractions and hidden gems.

📅 What’s On in Kent – The latest events, updated regularly across the county.

💡 Ideas & Inspiration – Feature guides and expert tips for the perfect day out.

🗺️ Kent Area Guides – Explore our town-by-town guides to find the best of local Kent.

See Kent, Know Kent

Pride in Kent for 2026 TBC

Tunbridge Wells Pride

History of Pride

🌈
Understanding Pride in Kent means looking back at its roots. From acts of resistance to jubilant marches, the history of Pride is a testament to the ongoing fight for LGBTQIA+ rights and acceptance. Here’s a brief look at how it all began, plus help and links for support and further information. By Wendy Copping

Britain’s first official Pride march took place in London on the 1st July 1972. This date was significant, as it was the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. This was a year, on the 28th June 1969,  since the Stonewall Inn in New York saw LGBT+ patrons targeted by the New York Police Department, according to the London Museum’s How London Pride Began feature. This was the beginning of similar Pride events around the country. Lesbians and trans women of colour were some of the people who were key in the act of resistance, which became known as the Stonewall uprising.

Though this was not the first time the community had had to face police brutality, media focus on this event ignited solidarity for their rights in the US. It also led to the first-ever Pride marches,  held in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago on the first anniversary of the uprising.

Pride in the UK

In the UK, inspired by the events of Stonewall, branches of the Gay Liberation Front (GLG) were formed. According to the House of Lords Library’s Pride in the UK: From its roots to today feature, two British activists attended the Black Panthers’ Revolutionary People’s Convention in America, which for the first time invited delegations from the movements for women’s and [the then] LGBT+ rights.
Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P Newton said, “We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people […] When we have revolutionary conferences, rallies, and demonstrations, there should be full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women’s liberation movement”.

Pride Before Pride

In August 1971, in what is sometimes called the ‘Pride before Pride’, the GLF youth group demonstrated in Trafalgar Square about the age of consent for gay men being 21. This was followed by the On 1 July 1972, the UK’s first Pride march in London. Pride in other parts of the UK has grown since that first Pride, including key towns and cities in Kent.

We are gay and we are proud and we are going to enjoy ourselves

Statement printed on the programme of Britain’s first Pride in London.

Resources & Support

🌈 The University of Kent has compiled a great list of resources

🌈 Deal Pride Support – they have a list of groups and supports systems. Most

🌈 Be You: Porchlight has introduced a new service fo young LGBTQIA+ – The BeYou Project. is now being run by Oasis Domestic Abuse Service. 

🌈 Live It Well – Check the directory of national and local organisations that help and support the specific needs of the LGBT community, and for Kent:
Medway Gender & Sexual Diversity Centre – The MGSD provides counselling, individual and group peer support and information on sexual health and well-being for LGBT, intersex people or people questioning their sexuality or gender.
Speakup CIC – An organisation for mental health service users in the Thanet, Dover, Deal and Ashford areas of East Kent.

🌈 NHS Kent Community Health has advice and links for useful resources.

🌈 Health For Teens also has links for advice and support.

🌈 Kent Family Hub helps you find advice, support and services to help throughout your family journey, from newborns to 19-year-olds, or up to 25-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

🌈 Kent Police: If you are a victim of a hate crime, please report it to the Police. Click here for details on how to report hate crimes to Kent Police.

Picture Credit: Insert ©  Norbu GYACHUNG at unsplash.com

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