'Shake Your Butt Brighton!' - Zumba with Mon & Brighton Girl Network Community 🌈 Pride Parade 2026!

Aug 17

5 min read

Updated: Aug 18

Colourful Zumba with Mon Pride parade dancers in bright outfits perform on Brighton city street, cheering crowd behind them and store signs lining the road. — YES QUEENS!🔥 When the Reggaetton hit the crowds went WILD! Photo Credit: Alun Sambrook

On Saturday 1st August, Zumba with Mon teamed up with Brighton Girl Network to bring our communities to the Brighton Pride Parade 2026.

'BE YOU IN EVERY HUE!'- and that is what we did! We brought our authentic selves & energy to the streets of Brighton for Pride - did you spot us?

Zumba with Mon & City Girl Network's - Brighton Girl joined forces for a day of celebration, ally-ship, dancing, 'taking up space', protest, fierceness, authenticity and pure joy. We laughed, we sweated, we nearly fainted in the intense heat but we celebrated our community together. What a way to spend a Saturday!! 🙌

We danced, we marched, we waved, we cheered, we smiled until our faces hurt and, yes… with that amazing sunshine and several hours of shaking our butts we definitely worked up a bit of a sweat along the way! 😂

But more than anything, we came together as a community to celebrate Pride, LGBTQ+ joy, allyship, friendship and the absolute brilliance of Brighton, and I am SO proud of everyone who was part of it.

From rehearsals to the real thing…

Crowd in Brighton pride parade waving rainbow flags beneath a large Shake Your Butt Brighton banner for Zumba with Mon on a sunny Brighton street. — WOO! Photo Credit: Alun Sambrook

Everyone who joined the incredible Zumba Dance Group put in the work beforehand, with rehearsals, learning our routines, figuring out our formations and getting ourselves parade-ready.

Then there was our amazing Walk & Wiggle crew, bringing the flags, banners, signs, energy and all of that fabulous hype! 🎉

The whole idea was to create something that felt very Zumba with Mon - movement, music, fun and community - but with that special Brighton Pride magic thrown into the mix.

I think we absolutely nailed it!

Getting creative before Brighton Pride Parade

People at a Zumba with Mon and Cut Milk workshop paint colourful protest signs for the Pride parade, reading Take Up Space and Shake your Butt Brighton, surrounded by art supplies — Art Attack eat your heart out!

One of my favourite parts of the whole experience actually happened before we even reached the Brighton Pride Parade.

We joined Brighton Girl and Cult Milk for a brilliant Pride placard-making social at Brighthelm Centre.

It was such a lovely way to get everyone together, get creative and start building the excitement for the big day.

Two smiling women craft colourful pride signs and rainbow art, including Space for every body and Dance with pride, on a table — Paint and Pompoms with lush peeps! What a way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.

There were paints, colourful cardboard, crafty bits and LOTS of ideas flying around as we made our own Pride placards and signs. The event was open to everyone, not just people taking part in the parade, which made it feel like a really lovely community celebration in its own right.

It was really special to see all of these empowering statements and joyful messages that we created together as a group taken out into the streets.

Those handmade signs were decorative and super colourful, but it didn't stop there. Each little placard was a platform for our voices to be heard, a powerful piece of our community ready to be carried through Brighton with love and unity 🌈❤️

Huge thanks to the lovely folk at Brighthelm for providing their space free of charge 💕

Then came Pride Day…

Zumba with Mon crowd in colourful Pride outfits gathers by beach huts, with a banner reading SHAKE YOUR BUTT BRIGHTON by The Lawns Cafe. — Did you Shake Your Butt?! 😎

Arriving in our block and seeing everyone in their Zumba with Mon and Brighton Girl T-shirts, getting our wristbands on, sorting ourselves into formation and waiting for the parade to start was one of those moments where you suddenly think:

“Oh my goodness… we're actually doing this!” 😂

Colourful Zumba with Mon crowd in bright outfits dancing on Brighton seaside promenade, with a truck sign behind them reading Brighton Tattoo Shop. — Ready to go! Eek!

Our Zumba Dance Group were right at the front, dancing and moving together as we made our way through the streets of Brighton.

The energy from the crowd was INCREDIBLE.

Dancing in the sunshine, surrounded by thousands of people cheering, waving, smiling and celebrating with you, there's nothing like it! ✨

We weren't performing to an audience, we were all part of it, and that inclusive positivity is exactly what the whole experience is about.

Zumba with Mon dancers in yellow and purple wave at the Pride parade crowd in Brighton, with rainbow flags and signs. — Go team!

So Much More Than Dancing

If you've been to one of my Zumba classes, you'll probably know that I say this a lot:

Zumba is about so much more than exercise.

It's about finding confidence.

It's about meeting people.

It's about laughing when you inevitably go the wrong way in a routine.

It's about having somewhere you can show up exactly as you are.

And Pride felt like the biggest possible version of that.

A huge, colourful reminder that we all deserve to feel seen, accepted, celebrated and free to be ourselves.

That is something I feel incredibly proud to have been part of.

A Huge Thank You 💖

To every single person who joined our parade group: THANK YOU.

Whether you were part of the Zumba Dance Group, the Walk & Wiggle crew, carried a flag, held a banner, made a placard, danced your heart out, cheered us on or simply showed up with a big smile, you made this happen.

Smiling women from the Zumba with Mon Pride Parade group in colourful Pride outfits dance in Brighton parade, with rainbow flags and bright summer sun.

I know some of you stepped way outside your comfort zone to be there.

Some of you had never danced in public before, or been in a parade.

But you did it.

And you absolutely smashed it! 🙌

Colourful Zumba with Mon dancers in purple and rainbow outfits pose on a sunny Brighton street as part of the Pride Parade, with a crowd and seaside buildings behind them.

To my wonderful Zumba community who weren't able to take part but sent messages, shared posts, supported us and cheered us on from home, a huge thank you to you all as well.

Thank you Brighton Girl, Gold Arts, Lizzie Ridout & Depot Dance!

Thank you to Pippa Moyle - founder of Brighton Girl and her creative team for answering my call to collaborate, it was wonderful to work together and make this whole idea a reality 💜

Thank you to Gold Arts Jewellers for their generous donation which enabled us all to be a part of this 💛 And a massive thank you to Lizzie Ridout for our amazing banner design, and for coming up with our awesome slogan "Shake Your Butt Brighton!" 🙌💃🏻

Thank you to the Depot Dance crew who provided us not only with their Choon Chariot - amazing bike pulled DJ table and sound-system, but also for providing us with water when we were flagging, and giant banner carrying!

And special mention to Kieron North for being an absolute star and bringing their artistic and build talents to the team. Working all hours to help me with the logistics, prep and sign-writing!

I'm incredibly grateful for all the support we had to get our great Zumba vibes out onto the Pride streets!