We’re getting excited about an event outside London this week – the legendary
Brighton Pride! It’s a good time of the year to be heading down to the coast and the weather is looking good. Time to don our shades and get ready to celebrate Pride with this year’s theme being Carnival of Diversity: Uniting Nations.
Hang on, what about the event managers view on Pride?
Of course we can’t go anywhere without thinking about it as event managers. It’s what we do! If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what a job in event management is like, especially if you’ve an interest in
festivals consider Pride from the other side.
Brighton Pride is the largest Pride festival in the UK and its current format has grown year on year since 1992. A charitable organisation since 2004, Brighton Pride faced financial ruin back in 2011 with a defecit of over £200,000. In the last 4 years, under new management, this has been turned around and Pride has raised approx £210,000 for local communities and causes, as well as covering all its operating costs.
Balancing the books to make sure the event is sustainable is no small task and requires a business strategy and professional event management including sponsorship liaison, professional supplier contracts, excellent liaison with the local community and of course, creative flair and excellent marketing to create an amazing experience for over 200,000 guests and spectators from all over the country.
Key event management considerations
Flow of people & traffic: with a huge parade to be planned the route, the movement of people and the usual Saturday traffic must be considered. Then think about the Pride Village Party & the Pride Festival, including the use of Preston park which has an impact on local residents in terms of set up as well as on the weekend itself. Then also think about liaison with public transport companies to ensure visitors can get in and out of the city. Enough to think about yet?
Security: this is always important for any large scale public celebrations, but following events in Nice and Orlando security plans have been reviewed by Sussex Police for this year’s Brighton Pride. Brighton Pride’s own security team work closely with the local police to ensure a safe event for all.
Fundraising: The core purpose of Brighton Pride is to raise awareness and promote diversity and tolerance. The money raised by Brighton Pride is distributed through the Rainbow Fund Grant Awards and of course all of this must be planned and marketed to ensure festival goers know where their money is going and to make sure the funds are distributed to the right local causes.
Fun: Last, but not least, any festival is about an amazing experience both for those performing and those attending. The pressure is on at Pride to be big, bold, colourful and outrageous – the bar is high and gets higher every year. Imagine the creative scope and the challenge of coming up with new ideas every year – an event manager’s paradise!
Not your usual 9-5 office job then?
Definitely not! Event Managers are generally people who don’t want to be stuck in a boring office job. If you like being at the centre of the action, directing it all and thinking on your feet then you’re probably an event manager. If you like both being super organised and using your creativity, plus knowing you work best as part of a team this is the kind of job for you.
Of course you don’t have to be working on festivals to be a superb event manager and there are plenty of
other kinds of events. But if you’re attracted by the fun and glamour of celebrity performers, attendees out to have fun and promoting local good causes then festival management may be your dream job.
To find out about different ways to get into event management why not look at our short and sweet
Masterclass Courses? Or to get some advice, call our Student Recruitment team on 0207 183 5129 or come along to an
open evening and chat to past students.
The featured image by
Kyle Taylor is used under a
Creative Commons 2 licence 
