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Bristol Pride announces return of in-person festival for 2021
Bristol Pride has announced its return to the city following a year of going virtual.
Taking place from July 3 to July 16, 2021’s Bristol Pride will have a slightly different offering from normal years, but still hopes to bring the city’s LGBTQ+ community together.
“We are so excited to be working on delivering this year’s festival in person again and to be able to bring everyone back together to celebrate safely,” says festival director Eve Russell.
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“It’s been an incredibly challenging year for everyone, and the LGBT+ community has been disproportionately affected, so it feels right that we create events that will focus on community, giving us all the chance to reconnect but also to be loud, proud and visible once more.”
Pride Day will take place on Saturday, July 10. Organisers hope the march will go ahead in its usual format, but the community events following will take place in Castle Park instead of the Downs, where the festival moved to in 2019.
Hoping to return the north Bristol green space in 2022, Pride Day activities in Castle Park will include a food market, family and youth areas and roaming live performances.
The change of location and activities is to ensure the event can go ahead even if social distancing is required.
Pride Day will take place at Castle Park. Photo: Dan Sheppard
Other events will also take place across the first two weeks of July. Comedy, circus and theatre nights have been announced and the Queer Vision Film Festival will be going ahead. There will also be a Pride Night after show at the O2 Academy on July 10, a cabaret night featuring queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and the dog show will return.
Organisers are announcing more programme details in the coming weeks, with Eve saying: “We’ve received a huge amount of support over the last year but without government backed insurance a last-minute cancellation of our festival in its usual format would risk the future of Bristol Pride and we are not prepared to do that.
“We have loads going on in July and almost all of it can happen with social distancing if required, we can’t wait to see you all there and we will be back on the Downs in 2022.”
Organisers hope for the march to take place as usual. Photo: Dan Sheppard
The Pride Day event in Castle Park is open access – a ticket or wristband will not be required – but organisers are encouraging attendees to purchase a Supporter Wristband.
Priced at £5, they enable future events like Pride Day to remain accessible to those who may not be able to afford to attend an exclusively ticketed event.
Main photo: Dan Sheppard
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