The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Pride party!
Hundreds gather for city centre celebration
Hundreds of people enjoyed a party in Peterborough’s Cathedral Square as Peterborough’s Pride parade reached the city centre.
The parade, last seen in the city in 2019, started at 12:30pm at the Key Theatre and, led by Embrace Events, culminated with a street party in Cathedral Square. The street party, from 1:30pm-6pm, was a showcase for LGBTQIA+ performers from across the country – from cabaret and Jamaican dancehall, to comedy, drag and performance.
Peterborough’s Teddi The Drag Queen hosted the main stage for Peterborough Pride for the first time and also hosting wass Ritzy Crackers – the city’s long-standing resident Queen of Camp and hostess of Embrace Events, who has been on the scene for over 25years, and Ed. G. Teen.
Vice chair of Peterborough Pride, Teddi the Drag Queen (31) told the Peterborough Telegraph: “I am very honoured to host my hometown pride. It is a massive privilege, to think when I was younger I had no idea that Peterborough could hold a Pride, yet alone me being the host of it.
“I first got into drag as a political statement I wanted to enter ‘straight’ spaces and making them queer, even if i was just a guest.
“I wanted to use drag in order to shock and wake some people up. We live in the 21st century and especially in Peterborough, we are part of the second largest LGBTQIA+ community outside of London. Also I very rarely saw someone that looked like me, larger, effeminate and representation matters so I decided to become the representation.
“The fact that we are actually putting on a Pride is monumental, the majority of other Prides have eianther been c celled or ca nnot go ahead, so I am very thankful that we are able to put one on.
“I am so proud of the committee for persevering with Pride as there have been so many hurdles to jump over,
and I think other committees would have sat there and given up but we stuck at it as we know how important representation matters and how important pride is, especially for smaller cities like ours.” Drag artist, Ritzy Crackers (39) who has a residenOstrich cy at the Inn, also made a longwaited a r eturn a s host o f the event. She s aid: “I f eel exemely tr excited and grateful to be able to be a part of it again. “Pride means a lot to me, I’ve been part of it since 2018 when Embrace Events and Inclusive Peterborough organised the first parade on a Thursday evening through town to The Met lounge, so to be given the opportunity to host again is exciting.”
Ritzy, a drag artist for 27 years, added: “I think it will mean a great deal and hope that everyone attending this year has a super fantastic day, as the LGBTQ+ community is stronger when out supporting each other.”
Eighteen-year-old Drag King, Ed G Teen, based in the city centre, was a host for the first time at this year’s event.
He said: “As a young person who’s been on the Pride committee since the beginning it’s great from two angles; it’s great to finally show my face from behind the curtain of organising and do what I love but also it’s amazing to see the progress we are making in tackling day-to-day hate crime and changing mindsets in Peterborough.
“I first got in drag to make fun of the small, toxic, masculinity micro-aggressions of society and it stuck.”