London came out on the streets in hoards to celebrate Pride

Hi I'm Ragini! I did my undergraduate degree from the University of Warwick and my masters from LSE so I have become an expert UK international student.

This is my experience of Pride in London.

I met my parents at Leicester square station at about noon and we headed towards the stage area. My mum was fascinated by all the colourful outfits and scolded me for not informing her about the “appropriate dress code” even though she was dressed in a bright pink top.

Nonetheless, she bought a flag on the spot and proceeded to chanting and marching with the crowds.

My father and I spent some time listening to music at the Leicester square stage. We then headed to meet my mum at Trafalgar square, but it was physically impossible to navigate the crowd ahead of us. At one point, I could see Nelson’s column about a mile ahead of me but had no idea how to reach there.

I also managed to lose my father in the crowd, and I would find out later that he had wandered off to the Soho stage because he heard some good music coming from that direction!

It was nearing lunch time and the crowds were getting thicker.

My phone was getting just enough network for me to send out a message on our family Whatsapp group to reconvene at Carnaby street. I was sure my parents would be tired and frustrated with my planning but to my surprise everybody was all smiles when we reunited.

As I mentioned earlier, my father had simply let his ear guide him to the Soho stage and he dragged us all along because he had loved the music. 

On the way, my mum showed me all the pictures she managed to take of the parade. She was most excited about the Indian flags she was able to spot.

We grabbed a bite to eat on the way to the Soho stage and spent about another hour at the stage, exchanging stories of our pride experience and enjoying the music. My mum even got up and joined a dance circle after we had significantly nourished ourselves.

We headed toward Leicester Square station with a group of tired pride attendees only to find that the station was closed. The attendant at the station directed us toward Tottenham Court Road and off we headed through colourful central London.

Although it had been a tiring day, everybody around us was in high spirits which is why the exhaustion did not really hit us until we sat on the tube.

We reached home and immediately went off to take a nap. I headed out again in the evening to meet a friend and found the streets to be as lively as the morning. I headed home at about 11 pm and the celebrations in central London were far from ending.

This was the first pride parade I attended, and it was an unmatched experience. I cannot wait to attend again next year!

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