Last weekend’s Birmingham Pride events were predicted to have 100,000 people descend on the city, way above previous years of 40,000 across the weekend. In addition to this record footfall, the footfall data gathered from across the weekend showed a substantial increase in pedestrian activity compared to average weekends.
The anonymous data, which was gathered by VivaCity’s AI-powered sensors, highlighted pedestrian counts across at Birmingham New Street station and on Pershore Street, in the heart of the city’s Gay Village. The sensors recorded that pedestrian footfall peaked in the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday, and that Saturday saw the busiest crowds, with 53% more pedestrians around Pershore Street compared to Sunday.
Around Pershore Street, data shows a spike in pedestrian traffic between 2-3 pm coinciding with the start of Saturday’s scheduled events at Smithfield Live and the Village Street Party. While slightly less activity was recorded during the evening hours of the event, there was consistently higher footfall throughout Saturday. Movement picked up again at 1am on Sunday morning, which coincided with the end of Saturday’s festival activities when crowds made their way home.
While total footfall was somewhat lower on the Sunday, pedestrian counts at Pershore St remained higher than the average Sunday. With motorised traffic restricted, their volume reduced by 42% across the weekend compared to the average weekend traffic, while cyclist counts increased by 77%. Overall, throughout the weekend active travel – represented by pedestrians and cyclists – made up 69% of road users, versus 24% in an average weekend.
VivaCity data also revealed that footfall around New Street Station increased by 66% compared to pedestrian volumes during an average weekend, whereby Saturday saw the largest number of pedestrian movements around the station. Total daily car traffic was 34% lower on Pride Saturday compared to the average Saturday, while Sunday car traffic was 17% higher than the average Sunday. On Saturday car traffic peaked at noon, likely to accommodate arriving festival goers in advance of the celebrations, and similarly rose again after midnight when scheduled activities had ended.
Throughout the summer months, Pride events will be held across the country, serving as a platform to commemorate LGBTQ+ history, promote visibility, and advocate for equal rights and acceptance. Birmingham Pride, which originated in 1997 is now celebrating its 26th year.
Mark Nicholson, CEO at VivaCity commented: “VivaCity’s sensors anonymously gather and analyse footfall, cyclist and traffic data. This data can support event organisers in the management of events and in evaluating their success. Our global sensor network is approaching its 25 billionth unique road user count and we’re pleased to see how this data is being used to support a variety of use cases.”
* Average weekend: The average across the 4 previous weekends excluding the weekend of the Coronation (22-23 April; 29-30 April; 13-14 May; 20-21 May)
