EUROPE's biggest pride festival has been awarded almost £600,000 of "life-changing funding".

Brighton and Hove Pride was awarded £643,100 as part of the government's culture recovery fund.

The three-day festival was due to take place on August 1 and August 2 but was called off due to the pandemic.

Mariah Carey had been due to headline the event, playing Pride in the Park on Saturday 1 August.

Funding aimed at helping the event recover from the impact of the pandemic was announced today as part of the first round of grants.

A total of £1.57 billion has been set aside by the government to support the arts and culture sector.

Paul Kemp, director of Brighton and Hove Pride, said the funding will allow the festival to bring back freelancers and key staff.

He said: “Brighton Pride is an important community and cultural event for our region that raises essential funds for our community groups and charities as well as bringing in over £20.5 million to the local economy.

"We are delighted to have been awarded this grant from the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) that brings stability for our planning going forward.

"The funding will allow us to bring back our freelance professionals, key contractors and Pride core staff to begin the significant undertaking of pre event planning for the Brighton and Hove Pride 2021 festival.”

According to the organisers, more than 450,000 people gather for the weekend, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.

The funding comes as Covid-19 alert level for Brighton was raised from yellow to amber after the number of weekly cases almost tripled.

Last week, Brighton’s seafront was aglow as buildings including Brighton Palace Pier and the British Airways i360 were illuminated red to raise awareness to the events industry.

Arts Council England chair Sir Nicholas Serota, said the funding was "life-changing".

He said: “Theatres, museums, galleries, dance companies and music venues bring joy to people and life to our cities, towns and villages.

"This life-changing funding will save thousands of cultural spaces loved by local communities and international audiences. Further funding is still to be announced and we are working hard to support our sector during these challenging times.”