Birmingham Pride

I’m a huge fan of Birmingham Pride which takes place every Spring Bank Holiday in the Hurst Street area of Birmingham.
It is a huge two day festival designed to welcome the whole community.
Normally it starts with a noon Parade in Victoria Square which then spirals around the city and down into the Hurst Street area.
Over the years pride has become a ticketed event which you should by well in advance of attending to ensure value for money. Late ticket buyers can expect to pay far more for their ticket.
There are stalls, a fairground and even a sexual health clinic set up for the two days.
For me the cabaret tent is the place to find the best acts of the weekend.
The only reason it is missing that fifth star is down to feeling a little bit like cattle as sometimes it can feel over full.
But great for a fantastic weekend heralding the start of the UK Pride Festival Season.

It was so hard to decide what pics I wanted to post from my 100+ photos.
Birmingham pride does make you proud to live in a country that not embraced the LGBT community but actively celebrates it.
Wonderful, colourful, OTT fun in this cosmopolitan city.
A fun day guaranteed to raise more than a few smiles, take your family and have fun.

Whether you gay.lesbian.bi…trans.drag. Or gay for pay. Pride is the place to be. Its a huge 2 day colourful festival for the whole community.
Be sure to have heaps of fun at this festival with wonderful vibrant parade and over the top drag costumes. A perfect day for free hugs and loving. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Happy Pride. :)

Birmingham Pride is a two day festival that takes place every year on the second bank holiday in May. I.e. the end of May. (Apart from when it was moved to coincide with the Queen’s jubilee in 2012. There’s a joke in there somewhere…)
It’s one of the biggest gay prides in the country rivaled only by Manchester in it’s size, output and running time.
This is, like all Prides now, a ticketed event which helps to reduce homophobic people coming along for a free party and throwing abuse at pride goers (I have seen it in the past).
There was once a time where pride was grassroots and a protest however nowadays they are more a chance to celebrate who we are and where we’ve come. The protest is still there with local community groups, gays bars and clubs and national charities marching in the parade on the Saturday (Usually kicks off at 12pm from Victoria Sq). This is a great visual statement to the City of Birmingham that ‘we’re here and we’re queer’ as the parade runs all the way down New St and finishes in Hurst St.
Tickets are very reasonable, at just £15 for a weekend ticket IF YOU BOOK IN ADVANCE. They are £15 on the day, for a day ticket. That gets you entry into the pride area and allows you to go to all the gays bars, which will be open and free. They usually extend the bars by erecting tents and marquees outside of them allowing for the increased amount of people to all find a place to grab a drink.
There are a variety of areas which include:
The Mains Stage
The Cabaret Tent
The Village Green
The Women’s Tent
The Chic Dance Tent
The fairground
Market stalls
So you will not be short of places to go and thing to do! Support pride and equality whilst having a truly fabulous time!