Pride Parade Floats: Celebrating Diversity in 2023

Pride Season 2023 was the biggest in The Clear Idea’s history. We introduced several new float styles to our clients and our creative production department excelled themselves with unparalleled executions which you can see below.  

Floats In Birmingham Pride 

Pride season this year started with a bang in Birmingham. Local company Cadbury’s had produced their own float last year and found out that it is more complicated than it looks, with some of their branding and half the balloons not making it as far as the start line! This year they came to the experts, and we delivered a super-stylish float for their team which featured the iconic purple Cadbury’s branding and their ‘Glass Half Full’ motto illustrated with giant glasses ‘pouring’ milk into the float really did look a picture. The float was finished with purple and gold biodegradable balloon garland (which didn’t fall off) and our fantastic sound system, pumping out the tunes to get the party properly started! 

We were also delighted to provide our LED float in Birmingham for supermarket chain Lidl. As headline sponsor Lidl were really looking to turn heads with their colourful design. The float featured a multi-colour wrap and a full sound system with DJ equipment which was all powered by the vehicle’s on-board generator. With a capacity of 60 people the float was the perfect choice and provided a great day out for Lidl colleagues. 

Football Trophy Parades 

Once the parade was over the LED bus headed straight to Coventry where it was stripped in anticipation of Coventry FC’s celebratory parade as the club was hoping to regain promotion to the Premier League. Unfortunately, it was not to be and Coventry lost their play-off match against Luton on penalties. Three days later the LED bus was in Sheffield for the Sheffield United trophy parade. After Sheffield the LED bus returned to the factory and all attention turned to an epic Pride In London 

Pride In London 

After an absolutely huge Pride In London 2022 it was hard to imagine that 2023 could and would be 50% bigger. But it was. To cope with the sheer volume of clients and the organizer’s request for even more creativity in the float design, The Clear Idea’s production team set about introducing some new, never-been-seen before float styles for some of the parade’s headline sponsors. As a business we successfully produced and delivered 30% of all the floats that appeared in the Pride In London Parade. 

All our floats were produced with sound systems, on-board generators and were fully branded. As per Pride In London’s guidelines we also provided a driver and driver’s mate for each float. In total, on the day, we had over 60 members of staff working at the Pride In London event. Our staff comprised AV technicians, creative producers and installers, balloon artists carpenters, drivers, face painters, electricians – the entire factory was relocated to London for 48 hours to make sure all the floats were delivered in line with our clients’ expectations.  

2023 saw a concerted effort to push the boundaries not only of creativity but also of sustainability of our parade floats. Several of our floats were powered by battery packs rather than the traditional generators. All our balloons were biodegradable and produced from natural rubber. Our 4×4 floats were all pulled by Electric Vehicles.  

Headline sponsor United Airlines came to us looking to have a float featuring a gigantic tail–fin adorned with the United branding which would stand tall and proud in a crowd. We sourced a trailer from Holland to deliver this magnificent creation. The ‘Dutch’ trailer featured a 4m tall tailfin on the rear of the float and the creative design meant the United team were only a few centimetres from the crowd as the float moved through the streets of London. Mounted on the front of the float, surrounded by 360 degree handrails was the United Airlines DJ who keep the crowds entertained all the way along the parade route.

Arsenal and their LGBT+ supporters’ division, The Gay Gooners came back to us this year looking for something a little bit more retro. Our vintage Route Master with battery-powered sound system hit the back of the net and looked as good as Freddie Ljungberg in Calvin Klein boxer shorts. 1 – 0 to the Arsenal.  

Not to be outdone, Chelsea FC needed to up their game from last year, so they approached us to provide something totally cutting-edge which also allowed them to play digital content as the float moved through the crowds. Cue the creation of our Power Float which featured 2 x 9m square LED screens at the front. The float also featured Pride of London branding and was pulled by our Mercedes Actros.  

Long-standing client Cisco were looking to the future with their sustainable float. The float was an absolute work of art – covered in foliage and featuring giant bees and butterflies which were hand-made by The Clear Idea production team. The float was also adorned with giant honeycombs and bubble machines. To underlines the float’s green credentials it was towed by a Tesla 3. 

Despite being targeted by Just Stop Oil protestors the Coca Cola float was an absolute beauty. With a glitter wrap, our Showcase Float looked a treat and it is no surprise it caught the attention of the protesters.

Not only was the wrap sensational, the float was also adorned with hand-made sound waves, bubble machines, a custom-made Coca Cola floor and balloons. The DJ Carl Crighton could be seen playing tunes from the back of the float which were pumped into the crowd from speakers which featured on the upper and lower decks. All electrical items were powered by the floats 25kva on-board generator. In total over 85 Coca Cola guests travelled on the float. 

Marks And Spencer’s had never had a float in Pride In London before as they previously had only had a walking delegation. This year the retailer was looking to raise the bar and did they ever. The M&S float was epic – featuring giant love-heart inflatables which adorned both the main body of the float and also the truck cab. The cab was wrapped in a rainbow design, with transgender coloured horns and the instantly recognisable M&S logo on the roof. It also featured a rainbow shimmer skirt and fully-branded perimeter panels. It was definitely a crowd pleaser. A word of mention to The Clear Idea driver Tyler, who on the morning of the parade learned about the passing of his best friend. Tyler didn’t let this tragic news affect his delivery to the client. Many condolences, Tyler.  

Netflix’ agency approached us to produce a float for their Heart-Stoppers show. The 10m Power Float featured a fully wrapped cab, branded side panels and an additional 6m panel above the heads of the people on board, ’ carrying the Heartstoppers branding. Matching, giant, helium balloons flew from the float and were carried by the walkers and also got to see stars of the show as they made their way down the parade route towards Piccadilly Circus. 

 Mastercard pushed the envelope once again with their 4×4 trailer float. Pulled by an American import EV the float pushed the boundaries of creativity with a double diagonal balloon arch, full EV wrap and raised DJ plinth. 

As always, we were honoured to have been invited to produce the floats for The Mayor Of London and several NHS Trusts. The Clear Idea always has inclusivity at the core of everything we do and this year we were privileged to be asked to produce a float for Choice Support, a charitable society providing support to those with autism and other mental health and learning disabilities. We therefore provided them with one of our easily accessible floats, without a sound system on this occasion, so the participants weren’t overwhelmed by the noise. We hear they all had a fantastic day! You can see images of our other floats below. 

If you are looking at participating in Pride In London 2024, please don’t wait too long to get in touch. We are already taking orders. 

Brighton Pride 

The less said about Brighton Pride the better. Storm Antoni smashed the parade into pieces. It didn’t deter The Clear Idea crew but it definitely put a dampener on the party atmosphere as the floats were buffeted by gale-force wind and rain. Better luck next year Brighton. 

Manchester Pride 

As always, Manchester Pride was a joyous, vibrant affair with the whole city in the party mood. We produced the floats for the headline sponsors Booking.com, Starbucks and Tui who were also sponsoring the event.  

 The Booking.com float was a masterpiece of creativity featuring a variety of custom-built props to adorn the float. All built within just two weeks the float was fitted with a gold bath, a stage designed as a king-size bed with headboard decked in red sequins. A beautiful sculpture of two kissing, glittery swans, made to resemble, towel–art, which sat proudly on the roof of the cab. The front of the cab was fitted with a blue glitter-effect vinyl, personal number plates and glittery perimeter boards. In addition, an electric vehicle that we branded and installed a giant inflatable Booking.com suitcase on top of, led the way. 

The float acted as a stage for Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst who blasted out tunes to the delighted crowds lining the street of Manchester city centre.. From a technical aspect Conchita was attached to the float with a glittery harness attached to a built-in handrail secured into the framework of the float. The float was also fitted with a non-slip floor (glittery of course) just in case the Manchester weather did not play ball (it did rain but for the most part we were lucky with the weather during the parade with just a quick show and a full AV system (most of which was fitted under the double bed).  

Across the road in the parade line-up in Liverpool Street was the second float in the parade which we produced for travel company Tui. Tui’s brief to us it that they wanted to make an impact whilst ‘flying’ through the streets of Manchester. And boy, did we deliver some impact with a replica 4m Tui-branded tailfin which was attached to the rear of one of our trailer floats, branded clouds along each side and a selection of matching placards for the excited Tui staff to hold on the way round. At the front of the float we fitted a full DJ set-up and a mic for the brilliant DJ and comedian and DJ Pam Ann to entertain the crowds as she passed by. 

Not to be outdone by these fantastic creations Starbucks came to the party with a Power Float adorned with giant Starbuck’s branded coffee cup attached to a silver plinth in the middle of the float. The float hosted over 30 Starbuck’s colleagues who were on great form bouncing the float down the Manchester roads. The fantastic, bold and colourful design featured on all sides of the float and included a silver shimmer skirt and full sound system and hydraulic tail-lift to assist entry onto the float. 

We also received an enquiry from owners of Keighley Cougar rugby league club a few days before Manchester Pride. The club wanted to celebrate its inclusivity and diversity within the community. We managed to provide them a trailer float with dual balloon arches which could be pulled by their own 4×4. Due to tight budgets the club provided their own float decorations, branding and sound system. They did a fantastic job! Many of the club’s star players including Junior Sa’u were on-board for the celebrations. 

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