This year was supposed to be the biggest and most promising year for Joshua Lloyd as we took the next steps in bringing our brand to a whole new level. We had a long list of UK Pride events up and down the country. We were so excited to attend and meet with our awesome community!
Unfortunately due to the effects of COVID-19, the Pride calendar has been massively disrupted and postponed. Although this has been a very upsetting time for both us and the community, it has only made us even more excited for the events in 2021 as we plan to party twice as hard!
Here are the events we are looking forward to most next year. We aim to attend all events on this list with even more where possible!
If there’s a Pride event you’d love us to attend that isn’t mentioned in this list, be sure to let us know in the comments!
Pride Blackpool
Blackpool plays a very important role for our brand with it being the birth town of Joshua and the majority of the team at Joshua Lloyd. Blackpool Pride was the first event that the brand applied to attend with it being so close and connecting with our founding community.
Blackpool Pride is an annual event aimed at promoting equality and diversity for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a colourful and vibrant celebration taking place each weekend at the start of June.
We finally look forward to attending and meeting with our founding audience in June 2021, and can’t wait to party twice as hard!
Manchester Pride
Manchester Pride is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ events. Along with them being a registered charity, they campaign for equality and create great opportunities for our younger generations. All proceeds raised throughout Manchester Pride are directly put back into the community!
Manchester Pride festival takes place annually across the August bank holiday weekend. The event takes place in the Canal Street area of Mayfield whilst the parade itself is through the City Centre of Manchester.
This Pride is definitely a staple in the UK calendar and we can’t wait to have the possibility to attend next year in August… See you there?!
Liverpool Pride
Liverpool Pride is a registered charity run by a board of trustees who aim to promote equality and diversity whilst eliminating discrimination in relation to LGBTQ+ people.
Liverpool Pride usually features a parade through the city centre on the Saturday plus a large open air festival, a number of stages, street stalls and street entertainment at the Pier Head. There is also the Liverpool Pride Fringe at the city’s gay quarter itself. A ‘Chill Out Sunday’ usually follows which includes sports, arts and culture events across the city.
The event is held annually at the start of August and has grown to become one of the largest free Gay Pride festivals in Europe with 2013’s audience numbers reaching up to 75,000 people. We can’t wait to be part of it in 2021!
Birmingham Pride
Birmingham Pride is another annual festival for the LGBTQ+ community. Now the UK’s biggest two-day gay festival, this Pride attracts around 75,000 people. The event begins with a parade from the city centre to the Gay Village in Hurst Street, where a festival site hosts music acts, a dance arena, funfair, cabaret and stalls.
This was one of the first Pride events, alongside Blackpool who we were in contact with to bring our brand to the community on a larger scale! Usually taking place over the Spring Bank Holiday; Hopefully we’ll need our sunglasses and hats for this event next summer!
Brighton and Hove Pride
Brighton and Hove Pride is an annual event held in the city of.. you guessed it, Brighton and Hove. Organised by Brighton Pride, who focus on promoting equality and diversity alongside advanced education to eliminate discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
This Pride event takes place annually in the first week of August and consists of a Pride through the city centre, a festival event in the park and the Gay Village Party alongside other club parties.
Brighton and Hove Pride is huge, the event attracts an estimated 450,000 to the city over the course of the weekend which is 2% of the city’s annual visitors!.. We can’t wait to be one of those visitors next time round!
Pride in London
Formally known as Pride London; Pride in London is the biggest annual Pride event in the UK. Each summer the event celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community with the colourful Pride in London Parade, as well as the free festivity events that take place in Trafalgar Square.
It is one of the longest running in the country and attracts an estimated one million visitors to the city. It wasn’t originally in our main plan to attend this event due to costings and distance, however after missing this years events due to COVID-19 we are very keen to get the ball rolling with this one!
Fun fact: The 2015 Gay Pride Parade through the streets of London attracted 1 million people, making it the 7th largest gay event in the world and the largest Gay Pride Parade and Gay event ever held in the UK. We really can’t wait to get a taste of it all in 2021, are you attending?
Durham Pride
Durham Pride is a relatively new Pride event, founded in 2014 when Chair, Mel Metcalf began asking people why their beautiful and diverse County wasn’t celebrating LGBT Pride. They were told they couldn’t do it by some, and that it would only be another student event by others and that there wouldn’t be any interest by many.
This was proven to be an amazing step forward, with the first Pride gathering an audience of around 2,500 people, rising up to an amazing 25,000 in 2019. They are constantly striving and improving LGBTQ+ visibility in County Durham.
Having worked closely with Durham University in the past to raise money for amazing charities such as our work with Student Minds, we are massively looking forward to attending their local Pride next year to spread the love of our brand further and raise more awareness to the LGBTQ+ community!
Edinburgh Pride
Scotland’s National LGBTQ+ Festival; Pride Edinburgh was relaunched in 2015. The event celebrates 22 years since Pride began in Scotland and it’s upsetting we couldn’t be a part of this year!
Pride Edinburgh includes a March and a Community Based Festival to celebrate diversity and personal identity. This annual event occurs during the Pride season, mostly around June. The Festival has Live Music, a Health and Community Fair and lots more.
We look forward to this ever-growing Pride event in 2021 and hope to meet as many of you as possible!
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Although there are so many other Pride events that take place in the UK each year not mentioned on this list, these are the main events that we are looking forward to to spread the love of Joshua Lloyd!
If there’s a Pride event you’d love to see us at, let us know in the comment section below. We’d love to find out where you’ll be!