An Introduction to Pride and This Year's Parade
With the annual Pride parade tomorrow, we can really get into the great fun it has to offer! There is something for absolutely everybody at Pride, this year and every year previous, and every single one going forward. With the world celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, it’s a great time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in style. Whether you’re looking to follow the parade, catch the great acts afterwards, or just relax in the sun with your friends, there is a lot of opportunity for some fabulous fun in London!
The first official Pride rally in London was held on July 1st 1972, celebrating 2 years since the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969. Now a whole 48 years on we’ve gone from 2,000 people turning up to last years reports showing over one million people, with even more expecting to turn up this year!
The main parade will kick off at 12pm, starting at Portland Place. The 1.4 mile route will then head down to Oxford Circus, along Regent Street down to Piccadilly Circus. Then through Lower Regent Street, Pall Mall, and then passing Trafalgar Square and finishing off the long route at Whitehall. Hopefully with the route being slightly longer this year the busiest places like Trafalgar Square and Piccsadilly circus may not be as rammed, but if you’re not the type to enjoy being herded like sheep maybe avoid those areas. One great part is that throughout the route there will be several podiums with friendly parade hosts telling you exactly what’s going on where so you won’t miss a single thing!
The parade will be finishing around 5:30pm, but the fun doesn’t stop there at all. There will be live entertainment across several stages throughout the day, and across the route that won’t stop until about 8pm.
Down at Dean Street on the Cabaret Stage there will be performances from 12pm until 7:40pm. Whilst over at Trafalgar Square the performances start as early as 11:45am and go on till 8:00pm. American Broadway performer Billy Porter will be headlining the pride event in Trafalgar Square with appearances and performances from the West End cast of ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’, and Drag Race Star Willam. Over at Leicester Square on the Woman’s Stage will have the cast of Kinky Boots earlier on in the day and then going on to Sinitta at 4:30pm and with DJ EI Conchitas at 7:30pm. There is so much to do with so much entertainment all throughout London, you're sure to enjoy your time.
Whilst we want everybody to have a great time, being safe and careful is important too. Especially seen as the signal can be terrible in London you can download the London Pride app that has an interactive map so you can know exactly where you need to head to next! There’s even afterparty information so if you;re still looking to have fun after 8pm then you can hop on the app to find out exactly what you;re doing next! No matter what the weather apps are telling you, London can always be unpredictable, so do your best to prepare and always have a bottle of water on you, no matter if you're intending on going to the busiest areas or not.
Stay safe, be respectful and have fun! Pride is an important time for the LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate who they are and the fact that it’s okay to love whoever we want to love. Now get the rainbow flags and facepaint out and enjoy!
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