THOUSANDS of colourful customers made their way to the south coast for a celebration of all things LGBT.

Pride weekend arrived with a bang as a sea of glitter and glamour swamped Brighton and Hove on Saturday.

Celebrations started in full at Hove Lawns as a procession of individually decorated floats set off on the Community Parade shortly after 10.30am.

Many of the city’s best-known groups were represented in the parade including Brighton and Hove Albion, Southern Rail, GMB, Brighton and Hove Buses, the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust and many more.

This year float decorations went above and beyond with some unique additions sitting within the swathes of rainbow flags.

Betting company Paddy Power dragged a seven metre tall floating inflatable footballer around the parade route. The sizeable striker, called the Game Changer, weighed 55kg and contained the equivalent of 7,000 balloons worth of helium.

This was done to raise awareness of the fact that there are currently no openly gay football players at the top level of the game, and the display was led by Liverpool legend Graeme Souness.

Other familiar faces to take part in the parade included Miss Sussex, Rebecca Kite.

The 26-year-old, who also holds the title of Miss Brighton, marched with members of the NSPCC.

She said: “This year it has been amazing with such an incredible atmosphere.

“I marched with the NSPCC last year as Miss Brighton and knew I wanted to come back and do the same again as Miss Sussex.

“There has been some really great music being played all day, but the ones that have really got people going are any of the Kylie ones.

“As soon as that comes on everybody starts dancing and is loving it.”

Dawn Glastonbury marched in front of her with BLAGGS, Brighton’s LGBT sports society.

She said: “Pride is just fabulous, it’s an absolutely amazing event. I think it’s great, it brings so much of the community together and is obviously great for the economy of the city too.”

Many people swarmed to the city to join in with the celebrations, but Pride also attracted visitors to Brighton for other reasons.

Photographer Dave Shrimpton travelled from Cambridge and set up his camera, made in 1948, in Gardner Street to capture the parade.

He said: “I capture a lot of characters during Pride weekend. It’s always interesting later in the day when people have had a few drinks and are heading to the station.

“People are more open then and setting up a large camera like this one is like a magnet, everyone comes up to you wanting their picture to be taken.

“That’s when you get the best pictures, I prefer that to the large crowds.”

It was not just the floats which were decorated to the nines. Festival-goers were also dressed to impress with a series of grand and ambitious outfits on show.

Extravagant headdresses and peacock-inspired plumage were popular, while one man went above and beyond by transforming himself into a large butterfly with a moving set of wings.

But Jack Giles took a more minimal approach to his outfit, opting to wear a black thong and nothing more.

He said: “I’ve had a really good time, the energy of everyone here has been amazing.

“Everyone is here for a good time and it’s brilliantly inclusive.”

The procession made its way through the city centre to be met with constant applause and cheers from the solid walls of spectators who lined both sides of the streets all along the route.

The parade ended in Preston Park and thousands of pop fans flocked to the area for an evening of entertainment courtesy of the Pride in the Park event.

Starting at 1.15pm, the festival saw a series of acts including Abba tribute band Bjorn Again, X Factor finalist Fleur East and chart-topping trio Clean Bandit warming the crowd up for the main event... headliner Kylie Minogue.

Before the pint-sized pop princess took to the stage organisers teased fans with a mystery “special guest” who would fill the penultimate slot on the main stage.

The big reveal was made just moments before the anonymous act took the stage, with the much anticipated artist turning out to be Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sande.

The 2012 Brit Awards’ Critics’ Choice Award winner gave a strong but short performance, singing three of her best-known tracks... Read All About It, Next to Me and Heaven... as well as an unreleased song called Shine from her upcoming album.

Then came the moment fans had been waiting for. In a dramatic entrance in which she was spun around by her backing singers on a tall mirror, Australian songstress Kylie Minogue took to the stage in a sequined blue jumpsuit.

Cheers of “we love you Kylie” rang around the arena and seemed to take the Can’t Get You Out of My Head singer by surprise. More than once during the set she chuckled before singling out the amorous crowd members to assure them the feeling was mutual.

Kylie made her way through an energetic set of fan favourites including Can’t Get You Out of My Head, The Loco-Motion and Especially For You... a song she dedicated to the crowd.

She also made her way through four elaborate outfits during the set, moving from the jumpsuit to a high fashion red dress, followed by a shimmering pink boiler suit and a blue dress with a flower on the shoulder.

When she left the stage a baying crowd begged for more and the former Neighbours star obliged, reappearing for a two-song encore in a shining rainbow maxi dress.

She ended with guaranteed crowd-pleaser Spinning Around, finishing with a spurt of streamers being released from the stage and a short firework display.