First city Pride confirms date

The first official Chichester Pride will be a digital event paying tribute to charities and groups supporting the community throughout the pandemic.

Plans for the first Pride event in the city were put on hold last year, and for public safety reasons the committee has decided to keep this year’s event online. Co-chair and vintage entertainer Dawn Gracie said: “To mark the hard work of local charities which have played such a key role in supporting people throughout the pandemic, Chichester Pride will launch a video on June 1 – the first day of Pride month.

“The feature video, available on the Chichester Pride website, will include acts by some artists who were due to perform last year alongside other notable acts from the world of drag, together with interviews looking at how local charities and community groups have coped with the challenge.

“The video will be free to watch and anyone wanting to view it will be encouraged to make a small contribution. Money raised will be put towards next year’s Pride and shared between this year’s participating charities.”

Co-chair Melissa Hamilton said “Throughout this harrowing pandemic we have all been able to rely on the support of others – of our family and friends and of our neighbours.

“Chichester Pride has itself been hosting regular online socials to keep in touch with the Pride community and ensure no one feels isolated or alone. We want our online

Pride event not just to raise a smile and to entertain but also to say thank you to all those in organisations which have done so much to support others.”

Dawn added: “We have a few exciting partnerships in the planning stages and we’re working behind the scenes to set the wheels in motion for putting Chichester Pride on the community map.

“Among the acts to feature in the video will be local favourite Cherry Liquor and the renowned Aida H Dee who was recently featured in Forbes for building a business from reading books to children with messages of inclusion.

“Charities including Stonepillow, Dementia Support and Allsorts will also feature explaining what they have been doing to help others during the pandemic.”

www.chichesterpride.co.uk