Celebrating Pride

by Shane Foster

Now that spring is in the air and the weather is finally getting warmer, we are all getting outdoors more and enjoying the sun, a bit like coming out of hibernation!

So that can only mean one thing - it's time to start popping those dates for diaries in, and what better way to get started than getting your favourite pride dates marked on your calendars.

To help you, here we have given you some of the best pride event dates happening around the UK.

April / May 2023

There are lots of pride events taking place during the remainder of spring, starting with Swansea, Falmouth and Bury who are all holding their events on the weekend of 29th April.

Then as we move into May, Exeter and Cheltenham hold their events on the 13th whilst Colwyn Bay pride takes place from the 14th. Birmingham is always a big event and this year will be no exception over the weekend of 27th/28th May. The 28th is also the date for events taking place in both Durham and Derby.

June / July 2023

As we move into longer days and the summer sun there is a whole host of events to attend. Southampton, York and Oxford kick things off on 3rd June, followed by Portsmouth, Canterbury, Dorset, Dundee and Hereford taking place on 10th June, alongside the big pride weekend on Blackpool promenade - also on the 10th.

Later in the month there is an array of events, all taking place on 17th June, including Cambridge, Exmouth, Bodmin, Cymru Pride in Cardiff, Chippenham, Omagh and Salford, as well as Scotland's LGBTQ+ Sports Festival which runs from the 17th until the 30th of June.

The 24th of June sees events in Edinburgh, Stroud, Essex, Newbury and Stoke on Trent, followed on the 30th June at Weston Super Mare.

July gets kicked off in style as Pride in London takes place on the 1st, alongside Bridlington, Clacton and Tavistock. Then on the 8th we have Bristol, Bromsgrove, Northampton, Penzance and Sunderland.

The Isle of Wight have their pride event on the 14th, as well as Llanelli, then on the 15th its Croydon, Glasgow, Worcester, Sheffield, Suffolk and Tamworth, as well as the famous Brighton Trans Pride.

Also in July are Belfast, Oldham, Taunton, Highland and Newquay all taking place on the 22nd, followed by Chesterfield (23rd), Bolton (28th), Eastbourne (29th) and Stockport (30th).

August / September 2023

Probably the most popular pride event is Brighton, which this year takes place on 4th August, followed on the 6th by Leeds and Tewkesbury. Then it's the turn of Colchester, Swindon, Wigan, Doncaster and Margate all taking place on the 12th, followed by Crawley on the 18th, and Lincoln, Chester and West Norfolk on the 19th.

Manchester, another big festival, takes place over the bank holiday weekend of 24th to 28th August, and during that weekend there are also events at Dover, Cornwall and Walsall all on the 26th.

September welcomes pride events in Leicester, Reading and Torbay on the 2nd, as well as Bicester and Eastleigh both on the 9th. There is a Trans Pride event in Northern Ireland on 16th September, followed by Preston Pride on the 23rd.

Get Your Pride On

Wow, I'm exhausted just thinking of all those events, and you don’t want to miss any of them.

So get your pride on, and we may well see you there……..