Margate Pride guide 2025
Everything going on at this year’s Margate Pride - parties, family events, the march, and how to spend your Sunday recovery time
Margate Pride is back for its 10th year and there’s a programme of official and fringe events bigger than ever before, including film screenings, workshops, theatre and talks.
In fact, we’re already close to a month into it all. But now things are really ramping up with the launch of this year’s Pride Art Map, the official opening event of the Margate Pride Festival. Over 30 venues will be displaying artwork by LGBTQ+ artists from Margate and Cliftonville for the whole of August.
Other official events include panel talks Queer, Disabled and Unapologetic: Protest at the Margins and The Importance of Visibility in the LGBTQIA+ Art Community, a night of storytelling and song titled Postcards from Margate, plus another event Margate Queer Zines: 10 Years of Rumours.
The wider programme includes lots more, like an interview with author Daniel Harding about his new book Letters to My Younger Queer Self, a DIY strap on making workshop, Cirque du Mar-Gay’s Pride fundraiser, guided nature walks, and two performances of Ash Mukherjee’s brilliant one-man show Vishnu’s Got My Back.
Right here, we’re focussing on Pride Day itself and the parties going on around it. Although, to be honest, that’s a programme so packed that it’s spilled out into three days. It’s amazing to see how much Margate Pride has grown in a decade. And while, of course, Pride is a protest, filling a whole town with fun and joy for days and weeks at a time is a massive realisation of its core goals.
Pre-parties
Get ready for a full day and night of Pride festivities with, well, a full day and night of Pride festivities on Friday, August 8. A little practice run.
Pride and Pour
Disco and dance anthems that honour LGBTQ+ history and joy.
The Glass Jar, 15 Marine Drive. 12pm-2.30am. Free entry.
The Sun Deck
Warm-up for Saturday with Baby Pompom, Elizabeth Whibley and AKA FOX.
The Sun Deck, Royal Crescent Promenade. 4-10pm. Free entry.
Leztopia: Margate Pride Warm-up
Club night for lesbian and FLINTA communities.
Margate Arts Club, 276 Northdown Road. 7pm-2am. Tickets £8.
Father JC’s Mic Drop - Big Pride Bonanza
Special Pride edition of the popular monthly open mic night.
CAMP, 125 Northdown Road. 8-10pm. Tickets £15.
Margate Pride Day
The main event - what we’re all here for - Margate Pride Day officially begins on Saturday, August 9 with family-friendly events in the morning. The march will then make its way from Cliftonville down to Dreamland, where there’s a great line up of performances and speeches until the evening.
Walpole Bay Lawns
Children’s story time, dance class and children’s choir performance.
Walpole Bay Lawns. 10am-12pm. Free tickets.
Pride march
Gather from midday for a 1pm start, marching from Cliftonville to Dreamland.
Walpole Bay Lawns. 12-2pm. Free registration.
Dreamland
Lynks, Social Singing Choir, DJs, Youth Pride, Mx Margate beauty pageant, speeches and more.
Dreamland, Hall by the Sea Road. 2-8pm. Free tickets.
Margate Pride Afters
The official after party with Jaguar, Meg Ward, Queer House Party, Tom Rasmussen and more
Hall By The Sea, Dreamland. 8pm-1am. Tickets £16.
Pride Day parties
Margate Pride has a big line up of events, performances, speeches and more inside Dreamland, but Pride will also be taking over the whole of Margate. Here are all the parties going on all around town on Saturday, August 9.
Grey Pride
Aimed at over 50s, a quieter spot with food, drink and classical music.
Mill Place, 131 High Street. 8.30am-4pm. Free entry.
Drag Me To Brunch
Drag royalty Just May hosts bottomless brunch.
The George & Heart, 44 King Street. 11am-2pm. Tickets £45.
La! x Lafayette's x The Lighthouse Pride Special
Drag acts and DJ’s take over Margate’s Harbour Arm.
The Harbour Arm. 12pm-8pm. Free entry.
No. 42 rooftop bar
DJs and drag acts - including River Medway - with a view across the Margate seafront.
Guesthouse No 42, 42 High Street. 12pm to sunset. Free entry.
The Sun Deck
DJs include Archie, Rosie Ross + Caley, Abbie Neill, Gaëtan, Lanta and Sophie Stirling.
The Sun Deck, Royal Crescent Promenade. 12-10pm. Free entry.
Margate Black Pride x Olby’s
Margate Black Pride and Olby’s are taking over Duke Street for their party.
Duke Street. 1-7pm. Free entry.
Margate Beach Club
Honey Foxx hosts a party out on the terrace with DJs, dancers and drag acts.
Margate Beach Club, 1 Albert Terrace. 1-8pm. Free entry.
Queer Brewing Tap Takeover
Queer Brewing takes over Xylo, with 50% of profits going to Margate Pride.
Xylo, 2-14 High Street. 1-11pm.
Pride after parties
Margate Pride officially ends at 8pm when the lights are turned off on Dreamland’s Scenic Stage. That doesn’t mean anyone’s stopping though, it’ll be close to dawn when the last DJ set winds down.
Margate Beach Club
After a day on the terrace, MBC moves inside for more DJs and drag performances.
Margate Beach Club, 1 Albert Terrace. 8pm-3am. Tickets £10.
La!
The La! team move the party back into the bar after a day on the Harbour Arm.
La!, 13-15 High Street. 8pm-2am. Tickets £10.
CAMP
A massive line up of DJs in this small space, including Real GC and Lagoon.
CAMP, 125 Northdown Road. 8pm-3am. Tickets £18.80.
Margate Arts Club
Always one of the hot tickets and free entry to Cockles & Muscles if you stay to the end.
Margate Arts Club, 276 Northdown Road. 7pm-2am. Tickets £15.
Margate Pride Afters
The official after party with Jaguar, Meg Ward, Queer House Party, Tom Rasmussen and more
Hall By The Sea, Dreamland. 8pm-1am. Tickets £16.
The Divine
London LGBTQ+ bar The Divine makes its annual trip to Margate for a Pride takeover.
The George & Heart, 44 King Street. 8.30pm-1am. Tickets £15.
Where Else
Lynks take the headline DJ slot, with Bimbeaux Collective and Will Materialise also on the bill.
Where Else, 21-22 The Centre. 9pm-2am. Tickets £10.
BOUDICA
Queer party collective BOUDICA bring DJs Samantha Togni, ASHTREY, and Sissy Cinnamon.
Faith In Strangers, 17 Ethelbert Crescent. 9.30pm-2am. Tickets £16.50.
Cockles & Muscles
Pop bangers, queer anthems, dancing and drag. Djs include TeTe Bang and Buns Night Out.
Margate Lido Complex, 1 Ethelbert Terrace. 10pm-4am. Tickets £15.
Recovery and/or hair of the dog
After a big night, you need something to shake off that hangover. On Sunday, if you make it out of bed at all, you can swim, hike, or get straight back on it - up to you.
Hungover Hike
Grab a bloody mary and then head out on a hike to shake out the night before.
CAMP, 125 Northdown Road. 12-4pm. Free.
Margate Beach Club
Live jazz performances curated by Queer Jazz, then a disco funk DJ set from Inky Durrant.
Margate Beach Club, 1 Albert Terrace. 12pm-3am. Tickets £10.
Queer Brewing Tap Takeover
Queer Brewing takes over Xylo, with 50% of profits going to Margate Pride.
Xylo, 2-14 High Street. 1-9pm.
Queer Swim
Leave your hangover in the sea, join Queer Swimclub Margate in the Tidal Pool.
Walpole Bay Tidal Pool. 2pm. Free.
The Divine
After a brief break from their after party, The Divine will be taking over the Sun Deck.
The Sun Deck, Royal Crescent Promenade. 3-9pm. Free entry.
