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Blackpool Pride – Blackpool, England

Blackpool Pride Festival will take place on 14th & 15th June 2014 at the Winter Gardens Blackpool

Blackpool Pride 2014

Blackpool Pride Festival is now ready for LGB&T visitors from across the country and also from Europe to stay and have a great weekend of fun, music, dance and festivity! It is a Festival where we can celebrate our LGB&T lifestyle, not only in the Winter Gardens, but also in our many Partner Bars and there is something for everyone. We have an ethos of inclusion and this means inclusion of everyone within the LGB&T community and their families and friends.

With 9 Partner Venues, 15 Sponsors, 40 gay-owned hotels and a unique gay village, we are all set to hold a fun packed weekend for Britain’s LGB&T community and their friends. Our Sponsors include the Houndshill Shopping Centre, Mamma Mia and Blackpool Council and they have all contributed to help Blackpool Pride Festival to be a free event in the Winter Gardens.

So please come and enjoy two fun-filled and free afternoons in the Winter Gardens, with great, live entertainment, including 5th Story, the European Same Sex Dance Championships, Christopher Malone, The Krankies, Black Lace, Terri Fox, MK1’s Charlie Rundle, Amy Louise, Christina Marie, Ryan Jagger, Pretty Girl Rock and many others. In addition we are delighted to announce that Peter Tatchell will be our guest.

Blackpool Pride Festival (BPF) has recently applied to be a charitable unincorporated organisation and hopes to achieve this status before Blackpool Pride Festival 2014. We have an ethos of inclusion and this means inclusion of everyone within the LGB&T community and their own families and friends.

BPF will also work to promote an awareness of equality and diversity and reduce homophobia in the wider community. We will celebrate our cultural identity and be proud of our lifestyle.

The Festival will bring LGB&T people together and will be a celebration of our LGB&T lifestyle where we can meet and make friends and be ourselves in environments where we feel safe and welcomed.

The Executive Committee is made up of a Chair, a Deputy Chair, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Chief Executive and several other people responsible for different aspects of BPF. These people, all volunteers, meet and work closely together in teams to create the event.

Each year our main event is a FREE Festival in the iconic Winter Gardens during the Saturday and Sunday afternoons where we have some great entertainment, 50 market stalls, a Trans Zone and several bar areas, including an over 18’s bar. We try to cater for everyone including the children of LGB&T people by arranging crèche facilities and a separate children’s entertainment area.

We also organise a vehicle and walking parade along the famous Promenade and then onto the Winter Gardens. We want this parade to be loud and visible and show Blackpool that we are out and proud.

We also plan several smaller events throughout the year, including a Launch party, a Ball and, this year, an exciting Autumn Party in conjunction with Preston Pride.

In 2013 our free event resulted in a reasonable financial surplus, giving the event security. In addition to our 9 Partner Bars, in 2014 we have 15 Sponsors including the Houndshill Shopping Centre, Mamma Mia, Diageo, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Gay UK Magazine and Unison. However, BPF costs over £20,000 to stage and we have to raise further money throughout the year in order to keep BPF a free event. We therefore depend on our fundraising events and on the generosity of our community.

Blackpool Pride Festival makes a commitment to respect disability and ensure our event is accessible to everyone. Our entertainment is signed for those with hearing loss and we try to make posters readable to those with visual impairment. The Winter Gardens itself is fully accessible to wheelchair users and we will have volunteers who will help those with mobility difficulties.

We will listen to advice and welcome comments to improve and develop what we are doing. We just hope BPF offers something for everyone in the LGB&T community and we hope you will have a great weekend at the Winter Gardens and in all our Partner Bars! Have a look for them on our Partner Page or on the side bar named North Shore Venues.

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