|
Liverpool Pride Festival
Report by Madeleine Saghir and photos
by Patrick Trollope
.jpg)
LIVERPOOL Pride Festival is an annual event which was set
up in 2010 in memory of Michael Causer, a young gay man who was murdered in
2008.
The festival is a celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
communities, which aims to combat homophobia and transphobia.
The event took place, on Saturday, 30 July 2016, and it was the 7th Annual
Celebration. The revellers met at the Festival Stage on William Brown Street,
the march started at 12pm and finished around 1pm, at St George's Hall, where
the celebrations continued. The parade took place at some of Liverpool's most
iconic locations, such as St. Georges Quarter, The Plateau, William Brown
Street, and St John's Gardens.
Liverpool Pride Festival is an entirely volunteer led charity, and its core
values are:- 'Free, Inclusive, Visible and all about Liverpool.'
And, new volunteers are invited to join and help to continue the vision of a
fully active, diverse and inclusive Pride.
The festival attracted many people who turned up to show their support; the
crowds cheered as the march went on. The charity has many sponsors, such as:-
Liverpool City Council, Barclays, Radio City, Fire and Rescue Service, Stop Hate
UK, and The Merseyside Police. They could all be seen joining in with the
festivities and making it 1 of the greatest Pride Parade's so far. Many of the
revellers were dressed in vibrant and colourful costumes and, adding to the fun
atmosphere of the march, was the music and marching bands.
It had been promised that the pride event would be the most visual and
flamboyant of them all; and it certainly was. Around 5,000 people joined in with
the celebrations, and it is estimated that there were 25,000 revellers at ST.
George's Hall.
The theme for this year's festival was Liverpool icons. Liverpool is an
extremely iconic place, with many iconic personalities, buildings, and links to
iconic ships. There was a tribute to the icon Cilla Black on the main stage with
the back drop of St. Georges Quarter.
The colourful festival was set over a period of 2 days. During this time there
was a range of stalls, community and education zones, a market place, family
activities and speakers, as well as food and drink zones. Giving the festival a
really fun and lively atmosphere was the live music and entertainment, which was
distributed on three different stages, The Main Stage, The Garden Stage, and The
Plateau Stage.
The event was a huge success, which attracted thousands of people and raised
awareness of the importance of battling prejudice, homophobia, and transphobia.
And, we hope to see the same success next year.
Click
here to see more photos
from this event.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Click
here to see more photos
from this event.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Click
here to see more photos
from this event.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Click
here to see more photos
from this event.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Click
here to see more photos
from this event. |
