Pride South East, the charity which organises the festival, is negotiating with creditors and event partners including Fisher Productions and Select Security & Stewarding.
Russell Allen, chair of trustees at Pride South East said: "In early December HMRC rejected a VAT reclaim from Pride South East and this dramatically altered the charity’s cash flow. Since then negotiations have been ongoing with Pride’s two largest suppliers to seek a solution which would enable smaller creditors to be paid and planning for the 2012 event to continue."
In a separate statement he added: "The Trustees recognise the anxiety the local community has regarding the future status of Pride and they have been working hard to reach a clarified position which could then be explained."
Fisher Productions has supplied production services to Brighton Pride for the last two years,
Laura Bayford, marketing director at Fisher Productions, told Event: "We very much hope that the charity will find a solution which will allow Pride to continue in coming years and that allows them to meet their financial responsibilities to their creditors of whom we are one."
"We were extremely pleased to have been able to deliver Pride to their specification and budget and hope to continue to be involved with this event moving forward."
Annemarie Chebib, managing director of Select Security & Stewarding which also supplies the festival, said: "Select have been working with Pride for 13 years, and we continue to work with them to support them. We are very proud of the work we do for them, and what has been achieved with an extraordinary community event over many years."
This year’s Brighton Pride is scheduled for 1–2 September. Ticket prices and the lineup have not yet been confirmed. The festival includes a parade, street party and music performances in Preston Park. It attracted 150,000 people to the parade and park events in 2009, according to organisers.
The Preston Park event was ticketed for the first time in 2011 due to rising costs and safety concerns over visitor numbers, according to Pride South East.
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