Leeds Pride is an annual
LGBT Pride celebration held in the city of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
History
Leeds Pride first took place in August 2006 (then called Leeds Gay Pride) - there had been previous Pride events in Leeds such as ''Hyde Out'' in 2000 and in the few years before the first Leeds Pride, an informal picnic on Woodhouse Moor. Leeds Pride was supported by the city council and local business with 6,500 attending.
In 2009 the numbers attending the event had almost doubled, to 12000, with over 1,000 participating in the parade.
In its tenth year (2016) the name had changed to Leeds Pride
and it had over 40,000 people in attendance, with the figure expected to grow in year on year.
The 2018 Leeds Pride took place on Sunday 5 August with over 100 floats.
Parade
The parade starts 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 ...
at around 2.00 pm finishing on Lower Briggate by The Calls with a huge party.[ The economic impact to the city centre of Leeds is approximately £3.8 million.]Rainbow flag
A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum.
The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recogniz ...
. In 2017, the railway viaduct over Lower Briggate was painted in these colours and named ' Freedom Bridge" by Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...
and Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
.
Rainbow plaques
In association with the 2018 event, Leeds Civic Trust
Leeds Civic Trust is a voluntary organisation and registered charity established in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in 1965. Affiliated to the national charity Civic Voice, its stated purpose is "to stimulate public interest in and care for the ...
announced that it would be expanding its blue plaque scheme to create a trail of Rainbow Plaques to commemorate those who have contributed to the LGBT+ story of Leeds.Leeds City Art Gallery
Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance ...
Swarthmore Centre Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 10 on the Swarthmore Centre, Woodhouse Square
Soft Cell Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 11 on Leeds Beckett University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
Student Union building
Nicola Adams Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 12 on First Direct Arena
Transvestism Conference Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 13 on the Parkinson Building, University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
Section 28 Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 14 on Leeds Central Library
Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds. Situated in the city centre, on Calverley Street, it houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection and hosts the Leeds Art Gallery.
Services avai ...
Polari Rainbow Plaque.jpg, Plaque 15 on Leeds City Varieties
The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
History
Leeds City Varieties was built in 1865 as an adjunct to the White Swan Inn in Swan Street by architect George Smith for Charles Thornton. Alon ...
theatre
See also
* LGBT culture in Leeds
* List of Leeds Civic Trust plaques
References
External links
*
{{Pride parades
2005 establishments in England
Annual events in England
Festivals in Leeds
Leeds City Region
LGBT culture in Leeds
Pride parades in England
Festivals established in 2005