Since the world’s first Pride 54 years ago, LGBTQ+ Pride events have grown exponentially across the globe. As a way to celebrate each country’s queer community, its history and the diversity of identities within it - not to mention look back at recent achievements in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality and how much further we have to go - Pride is one of the biggest events in the LGBTQ+ calendar.

Even if you’ve been lucky enough to celebrate Pride in your home country or even somewhere further afield, it can sometimes be hard to put into perspective just how big these celebrations have become. For this reason, we’ve rounded up 13 of the most unbelievable and mindblowing facts and statistics about Gay Pride you should know:

1. The world’s very first Pride event took place in the US in 1970. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, three Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
2. Belize held its first Pride event in August 2017, just one year after the country decriminalised same-sex acts.
3. In 2022, Brighton Pride celebrations raised more than £300,000 for LGBTQ+ charities. In the same year, Manchester Pride also raised a staggering £120,000 for local LGBTQ+ communities.
4. London was the first country in the world to hold the first Europride, an international event dedicated to the pan-European queer community hosted by a different European city each year.
5. São Paulo Pride is the biggest Pride event in the world, attracting up to 5 million attendees on average each year.
6. The first Pride celebrations in the Middle East were held in Israel in 1979.
7. LGBTQ+ human rights organisation, Outright International, identified 101 UN member states where Pride and other queer visibility events took place in 2023.
8. Brighton Pride celebrations have brought in at least £20 million for the UK city.
9. The Metro Manila Pride in 2022 was the first time a group ofintersex people participated visibly in Pride in the Philippines.
10. In 2019, the world’s biggest Pride celebration took place in New York to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Five million people attended in Manhattan alone.
11. The self-declared “world’s smallest Pride parade” takes place each year in a small housing development in the English town of Rugby. The event was started by residents who wanted to support the local LGBTQ+ community, and now sees around 80 individuals walking along their small street in colourful costumes and accessories.
12. 61 UN countries celebrated Pride in more than one city in 2023.
13. The UK’s first Pride march was held in 1972 in London where an estimated 2,000 people attended. The same event now attracts 1.5 million yearly visitors.

Where Is the Biggest Pride Parade in Europe?

Europe’s largest Pride parade takes place in Madrid, Spain. Madrid Pride, also known as Madrid Orgullo (MADO), is held on the first Saturday of July each year and attracts one of the largest crowds in the world over its one-week celebration.

Other big Pride events in Europe include:

• Paris, France
• Berlin, Germany
• Stockholm, Sweden - also the largest Pride celebration in Scandinavia

What Is the Biggest Pride in the UK?

Overtaking London as the UK’s most popular Pride celebration, Brighton Pride is the biggest Pride event in the UK. Record numbers of people flock to this small seaside town every year, where world-class performers take to the stage, including:

• Britney Spears
• Kylie Minogue
• Dua Lipa
• Pet Shop Boys
• Black Eyed Peas
• Christina Aguilera
• Pussycat Dolls

Where Is the Biggest Pride Festival in the US?

As the birthplace of the world’s first Pride, New York remains North America’s biggest Pride event. The city is also considered an epicentre of the global LGBTQIA+ sociopolitical ecosystem.

Over the years, New York Pride has amassed the following number of attendees:

• 1970: 3,000 - 5,000
• 1994: 1.1 million
• 2015: 2.1 million
• 2019: 5 million

What Is the Largest Pride Parade in Latin America?

Parada do Orgulho LGBT+ de São Paulo, also known as São Paulo Pride, is not just the biggest Pride celebration in Latin America - but also the largest Pride event in the world. Running from the end of May to early June, the Brazilian celebrations had just 2,000 attendees in 1997 but draw well over 5 million each year today.

What happens at São Paulo Pride?

• Live concerts with popular LGBTQ+ artists
• Neighbourhood street parties
• Cultural fairs and street markets
• LGBTQ+ plays, debates and discussions
• Pride Parade on the Sunday following Corpus Christi, along the famous Avenida Paulista

Where is The Biggest Pride Event in Asia?

Held annually in Taiwan, Taipei Pride is the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in East Asia. The four-day festival attracts more than 200,000 participants from around the continent and was the first LGBTQ+ Pride parade in the entire Chinese-speaking world.

Where does Taiwan stand on gay rights?

• Taiwan is considered the most progressive country in Asia for LGBTQ+ rights.
• In 2019, it became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage - it is the only country on the continent to do so today.

Want to Delve Further Into Some More Interesting Facts About Gay Pride? We Recommend:

• Pride Around the Worldby Outreach International
• London's LGBT History by the Museum of London
• The History of Pride by the US Library of Congress