Merton Pride is on Saturday 5 September in south west London, and the organisers have published a running order that splits the day across two sites and one river. It is free, and there is one thing on it that catches people out, so start with that.
The march is capped, and the wristbands go out in the morning
Numbers on the march are limited. Wristbands are handed out between 10:00 and 14:00 at the Pride Fair in Morden Hall Park, and that is the only place to get one. Line-up is beside the White Bridge in the park from 13:30 and the march leaves at 14:00. Turning up at two o'clock without a wristband is the way to miss it.
The route follows the River Wandle out of Morden Hall Park, past Deen City Farm, to Merton Abbey Mills. It is about a mile and the organisers ask you to allow an hour. The ground is mostly flat with a couple of gentle slopes, tarmac in places and unsurfaced path in others, so it can be muddy. Bring water; there are taps at Morden Hall Park and at Deen City Farm. Dogs are allowed on short leads.
There are Accessibility Champions walking with the march for anyone who wants company or help, and a spectator point at Deen City Farm for people who would rather watch than walk the whole mile.
The rest of the day
The Pride Fair runs from 10:00 to 14:00 in Morden Hall Park, with community stalls. Pride Fest takes over Merton Abbey Mills from 14:00 to 22:00, with performances at the bandstand from 15:00. The billed acts include the drag performer Kate Butch, the Wimbledon-based Rock Choir, Stage Door Choir, the local pop duo Pretty Desperate, Ameliee, Kirstin Fairchild, PJ Taylor, Genny Random, Miss Mantis and Luqcherie. Times per act are not published. The after party is at The Shed at SW19, 267 The Broadway, from 22:00 to 03:00.
Getting there
Morden on the Northern line is step free and about 500 yards from Morden Hall Park; the Phipps Bridge tram stop on the Wimbledon to Croydon line is just under half a mile away. Buses 45, 80, 157, 164, 201 and 470 stop at Morden Hall. Parking at the park is limited, opens at 09:00 and is free for the first 90 minutes, with four disabled bays, at SM4 5JD.
For the second site, Colliers Wood is the nearest Underground station but has no step free access, so the step free way in is Morden and then the 470 bus to the Merton Abbey stop, 300 yards away. Routes 131, 219 and 57 stop at Abbey Road and 200 and 152 at Runnymede. The travel page has the rest.
The scene, and the rest of the day in the UK
Merton is not where London's gay nightlife sits. We list 30 venues in the city and almost all of them are north of the river in Soho and Vauxhall, among them the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the bookshop Gay's The Word and Dalston Superstore further east. From Merton Abbey Mills that is a tram or a Northern line ride, not a walk.
Three other Prides run in England on the same day: Basildon about 48 km away, Bedford at 83 km and Leicester at 152 km. The United Kingdom scores 43.90 out of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index; the detail is on our United Kingdom country page.