Northern Pride is the biggest LGBT Pride

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

in the North East of England, hosted in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. It is held in July every year on the Town Moor, just outside the City Centre. The event is free for all who attend and offers music, stalls and a

safe space The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a margi ...

for LGBT+ people, their families and friends. Northern Pride is a celebration of

LGBT+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

culture, history and societal diversity. Northern Pride presents Newcastle Pride each year which is a 3-day festival on Newcastle Town Moor and in Times Square in the

Centre for Life The Centre for Life is a science village in Newcastle upon Tyne where scientists, clinicians, educationalists and business people work to promote the advancement of the life sciences. The centre is a registered charity, governed by a board of ...

. Along with the Main Stage the festival offers a Family Zone, Youth Zone, Trans Zone, Women's Zone, Steve Paske Health Zone, Cabaret Tent, Sports Zone. Bear Zone, Dance Tent, Market Stalls and Fair ground. In the run up to the Pride weekend Northern Pride holds a number of satellite events and just after the Pride weekend they hold the ever-popular Paws with Pride pet show.

History

Building on the previous work of the organisation 'Pride On Tyne', the Northern Pride committee converted to a

not for profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

limited company in January 2009, having successfully hosted a Pride event in July 2008. Since conception, the event has grown over the two years - with approximately 4,000 people in attendance in 2008 and 6,000 attending in 2009. Northern Pride presents Newcastle Pride 2013 had 28,000 visit it for the 1 day festival. 2014 saw Newcastle Pride triple in size and become a 3-day festival over 2 sites while still remaining a free festival attracting 65,000 visitors. Headliners for the 2015 event were

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

and

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with

Lucy Spraggan Lucy Honour Ruby Spraggan (born 21 July 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. She auditioned for ''The X Factor'' in 2012, performing her own composition, " Last Night". On 3 November 2012, it was announced she would be quitting her run on ''T ...

, Kitty Brucknell and

Heather Peace Heather Mary Peace (born 16 June 1975) is a British actress, musician and LGBT rights activist from Bradford, England. She is best known for her hit role as Nikki Boston in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' from 2012 to 20 ...

also appearing on the bill. The 2016 event included performances from

Lorraine Crosby Lorraine Crosby (born 27 November 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the female vocalist on Meat Loaf's 1993 hit single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". Her debut album, '' Mrs Loud'', was released in 2008. Ear ...

, Jordan Gray,

Hazell Dean Hazell Dean ( Poole; born 27 October 1952) is an English dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading Hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top-ten hits in the United Kingdom "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)", ...

, Heather Peace,

Tina Cousins Tina Patricia Cousins (born 20 April 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and former model. She has had five singles in the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with others, including " Mysterious Times" w ...

Jake Quickenden Jacob "Jake" Quickenden (born 3 September 1988) is an English singer, footballer and reality television personality. He was a contestant on the ninth and eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012 and 2014, before being runner-up in series 14 ...

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

and

Heather Small Heather Margarita Small (born 20 January 1965) is a British soul singer and former lead vocalist of the band M People. Her subsequent debut solo studio album, ''Proud'', was released in 2000. Career 1987–1998: Hot House and M People Small ...

Funding

The event attracts sponsorship from private organizations and local authorities. Northern Pride has built excellent relationships with trade unions who support the event.

Management

The committee is made up of volunteers, (re)elected at annual general meetings by the organisation's membership. The current committee are:

References

External links

Northern Pride
LGBT events in England Culture in Newcastle upon Tyne Tourist attractions in Newcastle upon Tyne LGBT festivals in the United Kingdom {{England-stub