Pride is approaching and the team here at Escapade cannot wait to join the parade in kaleidoscope colour! With numerous events taking place throughout the UK and Europe there are many colourful and vibrant ways to celebrate life and show support for the LGBT communities! Read our Guide to Pride and don’t miss out on the rainbow shenanigans.
Birmingham
When: 26th -27th May 2018
Where: Birmingham Gay Village
Theme: ‘Be You’
Adult Weekend Tickets: £31.35
Birmingham pride will be held in the heart of the Gay village and will be featuring a main stage with fantastic acts such as Kim Petras, Kelli-Leigh, Jax Jones and Beth Ditto as well as a main stage, a dance area, a carnival parade, a cabaret marquee, markets stalls and a magnificent street parade of course.
This year’s theme is ‘Be You’ celebrating people’s uniqueness and their right to be who they are without feeling shame and fear of prejudice or hate, so go all out and wear whatever you like! Whether it's a colourful costume or something super fun, we have lots of costumes to express yourself in.
Oxford
When: 25th May-3rd June
Where: Oxford Town Hall
Theme: True Colours
Tickets: Free
Oxford Pride is an annual 10-day festival with the main event falling on the first weekend of June. It starts with a beautiful and colourful parade-taking place through the main city centre and brings everyone together in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Sticking to the popular rainbow theme, this year’s theme has been announced as true colours.
York
When: 9th June
More Details TBA
London
When: 9th June- 7th July
Where: West End
Tickets: Free
Pride in London is an annual parade of fun colour and glitter championing the LGBTQ and takes place through the heart of the West End and to further celebrate there is a two-week city wide Festival that takes place before Pride weekend. Pride is one of the most colourful and extravagant events around and is a fantastic occasion to celebrate the LGBTQ community as well as dress up in the most outrageous, colourful and fun filled costumes imaginable.
Expect Colourful floats featuring the diverse talents from the LGBTQ community including those from our favourite theatre and cabaret shows, tours, exhibitions, conferences, museum events and much more. Of course there will be much more planned for this year but all will be revealed as a magnificent surprise when Pride starts.
Bristol
When: 5th-15th July
Where: Bristol Harbourside
Tickets: Free
Hull
When: 21st July
Where: Queens Gardens
Tickets: Free
Another colourful event starting off with a parade through the city centre and finishing off at the Queens gardens where the party really begins. Last year saw a gathering of over 1500 people in the pride parade and this year is set to be even bigger and better. Expect a park full of entertainment, music, food and drink for all to enjoy. There will also be stall and organisations giving out information and lots of goodies.
Isle of Wight-UK Pride
When: 21st July
Where: Ryde Harbour
Tickets: £15
Isle of Wight Pride 2018 plays host to UKPride with a big beach party kicking off on the 21st July after a huge parade is led through the heart of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. This is the only Pride event that takes place on a sandy beach and is a massive celebration of the rainbow flag and LGBT communities raising issues of LGBT issues as well as raising issues about Bi-Phobia, Bi-Erasure and Transphobia.
Belfast
When: 27th July-5th August
Where: Belfast City Hall
Belfast Pride will run from Friday 27th July to Sunday 5th August with Pride day landing on Saturday 4th August starting at 1pm and followed by a party at Custom House Square and Pride Village at Donegall Quay. The parade is one of the biggest festivals in Belfast and runs over 100 events across 10 days.
EuroPride-Stockholm
When: 27th July-5th August
Where: Pride House and Pride Park
Tickets: 600,00kr
EuroPride 2018 will be starting off in Stockholm , the Swedish capital famous for its booming techno scene, gender fluid fashion, colourful LGBT community and the Nobel Prize and of course EuroPride Park, EuroPride House and EuroPride Parade.
Expect pride hubs and pop ups dotted all around Stockholm where different events and activities will be hosted for EuroPride visitors to take part in.
Liverpool Pride
When: 28th-29th July
Where: St George’s Hall & St Johns Gardens
Tickets: Free
Liverpool Pride was born from a tragedy of the murder of a young gay man, Michael Causer in 2008. It is a volunteer led charity that aims to combat homophobia and transphobia across the Liverpool region and beyond with their core values being that they are free, inclusive, visible and all about Liverpool. The festival weekend will bring together big names from music and entertainment as well as many local bands and artists across three stages as well as a colourful march through the city centre, passing many iconic landmarks.
Brighton and Hove
When: 4rd–5th August
Where: Preston Park
Headliners: Nile Roger & Chic, Jess Glynn, Raye, Gabrielle plus more
Tickets: £35
Brighton Pride festival boasts one of the most popular LGBTQ festivals around and is a celebration of all that is wonderful about the Brighton and Hove community.
Held in Preston Park, the Brighton Pride Festival is an all inclusive community celebration and unforgettable fundraising event which over the years has featured spectacular performances from pop sensations including Boy George, Fat Boy Slim and Katy B to name but a few.
This year a brand new Pride festival ‘LoveBN1Fest’ is taking place Sunday in Preston Park and will not only feature the amazing headliners Nile Roger & Chic and Jess Glynn but will also be an afternoon packed full of family entertainment, circus skills, cabaret and much more with the aims of raising funds and awareness for the LGBTQ community. In the last few years, Pride has raised over £455,000 for local good causes.
The theme this year will be ‘Colour My World’ as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic Rainbow Flag and the various colours which represent various elements of the diverse community.
EuroPride-Gothenburg
When: 14th August-19th August 2018
Where: Gotheburg
Doncaster Pride
When: 18th August
Where: Sir Nigel Gresley Square, Waterdale
Tickets: Free
Expect another street festival exploding with colour and music. Traditionally held in celebration of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual community, in recent years Pride in Doncaster has become a celebration of unity but specifically attracts an audience of which around two thirds identifying as gay.
Warwickshire Pride
When: 18th August
Where: Pump Room Gardens, Leamington Spa
Tickets: Free
The first Warwickshire Pride took place in 2013 on Saturday 31st August and was organised by local LGBT activist and businessman Daniel Browne who had a vision one morning and told himself that he would put on a festival in three months time. It actually happened with around 2,000 people coming out to support the first Warwickshire Pride. Since then it has only got bigger and better, welcoming thousands of people each year for a colourful event consisting of music, fairground rides and a fabulous after party.
What to wear:
No matter which rainbow shenanigans you will be partaking in, pride is all about rainbow colour and fun. Here are just a few of our fancy dress ideas to get you involved in the rainbow madness!
From left to right: Unicorn wig, Rainbow Tutu, Rainbow Colour Skirt Bustle, Starbite Monster Costume
From left to right: Johnson Willy Inflatable Costume , Inflatable Muscle Man Costume , Inflatable Duck Costume, Inflatable Giant Willy Costume, Inflatable Ride On T-Rex Dinosaur Costume, Inflatable Ballerina Costume