PRIDE organisers say it is a sin for pop lovers to miss the headliner for this year’s event.

The Pet Shop Boys have been confirmed as the first act for this year’s Brighton Pride which again will be held over the first weekend of August.

The electro-pop stalwarts will play their first Pride festival in the UK for 20 years.

This year’s Pride will mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality with a Summer of Love theme.

More than 300,000 people are expected to throng the streets and parks of Brighton and Hove as the city plays host to one of the country’s biggest pride events.

Pride is just over 22 weeks away with events planned from Friday August 4 to Sunday August 6.

All the old favourites will return with the community Pride Parade bringing a Carnival of Diversity to the streets, the Pride Festival in Preston Park and the two-day Pride Village Party in St James’s Street.

The Pride Pleasure Gardens, a new addition to last year’s event, will be held over three days in the Old Steine and Victoria Gardens while tails will wag at the news that the Pride Dog Show is already taking expressions of interest for participants.

Organisers are promising this year’s event will be “the most spectacular ever”.

Thanks to the success of last summer’s event, a record-breaking £100,000 was raised for good causes.

The Rainbow Fund has received around £90,000 to distribute while l13 community groups have shared almost £8,000 from the event’s social impact fund,

Pet Shop Boys, who have sold more than 50 million records including four UK number ones over a career spanning four decades, will come to Pride at the end of their mammoth global arena Super Tour which began in October.

It will be the duo’s first appearance at Brighton Pride and 20 years since their last UK Pride playing on Clapham Common in 1997.

Singer Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe played the fourth annual Prague Pride in the Czech Republic, reportedly the most LGBT tolerant post-Communist state, in 2014.

Paul Kemp, Brighton Pride director, said few bands have influenced, entertained or reached into the hearts of so many as the Pet Shop Boys.

He added: “We are really proud to welcome the Pet Shop Boys to headline our most fantastic Pride Festival ever.

“Having worked with some of the world’s most important artists, their impressive history and amazing contribution to popular culture is undeniable.

“Add to that their community conscience and campaigning, and they are the perfect act for the finale of our Summer Of Love Festival.”

For more information, visit brighton-pride.org.