Why city centre will this year be bursting with Pride
BARBARA HODGSON on the thinking behind the decision to bring a popular festival into Newcastle city centre from Exhibition Park and the Town Moor
THE annual Northern Pride festival will be taking over the city this summer with an event spread over multiple locations.
This year’s celebration of the LGBT community has announced it is taking a new direction – quite literally, as it prepares to move from its usual site and expand across the city. Central Park in Times Square will become the new Northern Pride Arena, which will host the main stage acts.
The aim is for this year’s July 19-21 weekender to be more visible and even more inclusive. The centrepiece march will begin at Newcastle Civic Centre as usual but after that it’s all change, with other new host venues to include Northern Stage; Assembly Rooms and Northumbria University’s Sport venue.
Northern Pride traditionally has been hosted at Exhibition Park and the Town Moor but organisers are now keen to move it from the ‘outskirts’ into the heart of the city and this year’s theme is ‘unapologetically visible’.
More than 80,000 festival-goers are expected to turn out in celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community and this year they will find the likes of the Rainbow Village, the festival’s set-up of market stalls, laid out around the central area of Grey’s Monument, Old Eldon Square and Blackett Street.
Ste Dunn, director of Northern Pride, revealed the ambitious plans to supporters and members of the business community at a launch at Northern Stage.
He said: “Our mission is clear. We’re using our festival to highlight the vibrant and beautiful queer community, the valuable impact they have on society and the richness of their talents, from makers and creators, to performers and activists.”
He added: “This will also be a fantastic opportunity to spread the Pride message across the city which in turn will also benefit both the event and the local economy.”
The new festival arena in Times Square will be a focal point with its main stage and the first wave of artists set to perform there are due to be announced in coming weeks.
The Saturday of the festival will see the full Curious Arts programme of queer art and culture play out at Northern Stage while the city centre will host the Health and Wellbeing Zone where there will be organisations offering advice and support plus a mobile sexual health clinic offering STI and HIV testing.
The recently-refurbished Assembly Rooms in Westgate Road will house the festival’s Family and Youth Zone of performances and activities, such as arts and crafts aimed at families and young people, and the university sport building will contain the Sport and Active Life Zone with information and taster sessions available to explore.
Ste added of 2024’s festival: “This is a very different look to Northern Pride but our core messages remain the same. We have included everything that people expect at Pride – including our march which will begin and end at Newcastle Civic Centre.
“We truly believe that this will move Northern Pride to the next level and that we are creating something very special.”
Coun Nick Kemp, leader of Newcastle City Council, said the council was proud to support such an important event.
He added: “Bringing it right into the heart of Newcastle will mean more people than ever before can get involved and it will truly become a citywide celebration.”