Warwickshire Pride festival returns to Leamington this month

The event, which takes place on August 22, celebrates LGBTQ+ life and culture and also aims to highlight injustices LGBTQ+ communities still face locally, nationally and around the world.

This year’s festival will kick off with the Pride march through town, which members of the public are invited to join. Organisations wanting to join must register beforehand.

The parade will set off from Beauchamp Road at 11am, turning on to Clarendon Avenue and then on to the Parade towards the Pump Room Gardens, which is once again hosting the festival.

At the Pump Room Gardens, there will be stalls, live performances, a dog show, workshops and entertainment on stage throughout the day, as well as food and drink vendors, fairground rides, and more.

The event will run from 11am to 6pm.

A list of appearances and performances for the main stage have also been announced by the organisers, but this is also subject to change.

The event organisers have also once again created a festival guide about the event.

Within it, the Warwickshire Pride’s board of trustees highlight why the event is important and the ongoing challenges the charity faces – including several battles with Warwickshire County Council.

Over the last year this has included issues with flags, reading material in libraries and emergency protests outside Shire Hall in Warwick, which is home to the Reform-led county council.

In their festival guide message, the trustees said: “As always, Pride is a protest. Once again that is our theme for this year. We chose this theme because Pride started as a protest many years ago and still needs to be a protest in which we rise up with Pride.

“LGBTQ+ people, and trans people in particular, are under attack from the Government, the media, people in positions of power and influence, and in communities.

“Then there are the anti-LGBTQ+ antics of the Reform administration at Warwickshire County Council.

“As an LGBTQ+ community, we need to stand up for ourselves and everyone in our community. We must stand up for trans people and trans rights. We must remember that Pride is still be a protest before it is anything else.”

They added: “Of course, Pride can also be a celebration. We can celebrate our rights and freedoms, but it is vital that we also protest against the injustices that LGBTQ+ people face locally, nationally and around the world.

“Hate continues to rise. So, yes, celebrate and let Pride be what you want it to be, but let’s not forget our roots and those who came before us. Let’s not lose sight of what Pride is first and foremost about.”

Thousands of people attend the event every year and despite the event’s message of community and inclusion, the festival site has been repeatedly vandalised over the last few years before the event kicks off.

Despite the setbacks, every year the Pride volunteers and the community rallies together to get the Pump Room Gardens ready for Pride again.

For more information about the Warwickshire Pride festival, or to see the current stage line-up, go to: https://warwickshirepride.co.uk/pride-festival