Bristol Pride is an annual festival in the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, championing equality and diversity across

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

. Since 2010, the Bristol Pride festival has been organised by the charity 'Bristol Pride' (UK registered charity: 1166817). The festival is a fortnight of events in the city, and concludes with Pride Day on the second Saturday of July. Festival events include a mix of talks by prominent local activists and charities, screenings of LGBT films, performances, and various evenings of entertainment led by local drag artists. Pride Day includes the traditional Pride March, which begins in the city's Castle Park and ends at the Amphitheatre on the harbourside. Bristol Pride remains a free-to-attend festival, but encourages entry to the events by donation to enable the festival to continue. The 2022 Pride Day took place on Saturday 9th July 2022.

History

The first Pride in Bristol was held in 1977 as a fundraiser for the Gay News blasphemy trial. The 1977 event evolved into Avon Pride and took place every year until around 1994. In 1991 a special postmark was issued to mark the 15th Pride festival in Bristol. A few small-scale festivals under the name Mardi Gras were held in the mid-2000s, with venues including the amphitheatre on Bristol harbourside and the Frogmore Street car park. After a gap of some years, Pride was resurrected in 2010. Held at first in Bristol's Castle Park, in 2012 it was moved to College Green as a one-off due to the presence of an

English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...

march in the city centre. From 2016 the festival moved from Castle Park to the Bristol Harbourside, at

Millennium Square Millennium Square may refer to: * Millennium Square, Bristol * Millennium Square, Leeds *Millennium Square, Sheffield Millennium Square is a modern city square in Sheffield, England. It was created as part of the Heart of the City project that b ...

and the Amphitheatre. In 2017, 36,000 people (including duplicated attendance) attended 19 events organised by Bristol Pride. To celebrate the tenth year of Bristol Pride in its current form and to accommodate ever-growing numbers of attendees, Bristol Pride moved the 2019 event from the Harbourside to the Downs, a large area of open public land in the north-west of the city. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the 2020 event was suspended and it was later announced that it would be online-only; the 2021 march was likewise cancelled due to

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...

, but returned in 2022 with Pride Day festivities again being held on the Downs.

Headliners

Bristol Pride Day has included headline musical acts such as

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco si ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

and

Lisa Stansfield Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...

. In 2018, singer Alexandra Burke, dance group

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B ...

and indie band

Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums). T ...

headlined the festival. The 2019 Pride Day included a diverse line up including Melanie C, Sink The Pink, ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' alumni

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantba ...

and the return of Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The 2022 Pride Day included Carly Rae Jepsen,

Bright Light Bright Light Rod Thomas (stage name Bright Light Bright Light) is a Welsh independent singer-songwriter, based in New York. Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his music, also branching into synthpop, dance and house music. T ...

, Toya Delazy and ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...

'' winner

Priyanka ''Priyanka'' is a popular female given name in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. It is a name derived from the Sanskrit word 'Priyankera' or 'Priyankara', meaning someone or something that is amiable, lovable, or makes you happy and the one who has lov ...

Gallery

File:Green Party at Bristol Pride (30767939418).jpg, Bristol

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

at Bristol Pride 2018 File:Main stage at Bristol Pride 2019.jpg, Main stage at Bristol Pride 2019 File:Bristol Pride 2022 115103.jpg, The start of the parade at Bristol Pride 2022 File:Bristol Pride 2022 120532.jpg, Bristol Anarchist Federation at Bristol Pride 2022 File:Bristol Pride 2022 122229125.jpg, Mr Leather UK and the

Leather pride flag The leather pride flag is a symbol used by the leather subculture since the 1990s. It was designed by Tony DeBlase, and was quickly embraced by the gay leather community. It has since become associated with leather in general and also with rela ...

at Bristol Pride 2022 File:Bristol Pride 2022 123616682.jpg, Drummers at Bristol Pride 2022 File:Bristol Pride 2022 123837582.jpg, The end of the parade at Bristol Pride 2022

References

External links

* {{Pride parades Pride parades in England Organisations based in Bristol LGBT organisations in England