Bath Pride 2024 will be taking place on Sunday 18th August, starting at midday at the Holburne Museum.
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There will be a family picnic at the museum from noon to 5pm, which will include live music acts and charity stalls, along with the opportunity to sit and enjoy the summer weather.
From 1pm to 2pm, there will be a Pride march through the city centre. Everyone is being invited to join the march to celebrate the local LGBTQ+ community, to raise awareness, and to advocate for equal rights.
Larger groups who would like to march together can sign up on the Bath Pride website.
The official after-party will be a WIG! drag cabaret from 6pm at Komeda, featuring local drag performers and the winner of Bath Drag Performer of the Year.
Tommy Parker, Bath Pride’s organising lead, said: “It’s so exciting to have our first major Pride event in the city.
“Pride occurs in cities up and down the country, and it is long overdue for Bath to have a Pride event to call its own. We have organised a variety of events to cater to everyone.
“Giving an opportunity for queer people in Bath to show their pride, and advocate for equality and justice, is so important. Hopefully Bath Pride 2024 is the start of a regular feature of our city.”
Diomede, winner of Bath Drag Performer of the Year, said: “I am so excited to perform at the first official Bath Pride. There are so many talented queer artists in Bath, and giving the opportunity to showcase the vibrant and thriving drag community is both humbling and thrilling.
“Our city has so much to be proud of, and one of those is the active queer community we have. Having an event like Bath Pride to bring everyone together is important not just for LGBTQ+ people, but the wider community.”
Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall, who represents Timsbury and is B&NES Council’s Member Advocate for Active Travel – NE Somerset and for LGBTQ+ issues, said: “Being able to attend Pride and March though the city I love and call home next month on the 18th will be so exciting and amazing.
“I have had the honour to have been the first openly gay Deputy Mayor, and Mayor of Bath, the first openly gay Vice Chair and Chair of Bath and North East Somerset Council, but in all four of those years there was never a Bath Pride for me to attend and celebrate who I was and what I and my fellow members of the LGBT+ community contribute to, and add to our fantastic city.
“I’ve lived through the Sexual Offences Act 1967, bullying through my teenage years, the cruel Section 28, the AIDs crisis, and very hostile elements of the press and media from the 70s to now, as well as state institutions such as the Police.
“The UK’s attitudes over the last 50 years have improved markedly, we now have the Equality Act, equal Marriage, and seismic change from the State. However, more needs to be done.
“Our community is facing a hard right-wing backlash, and the climate facing our Trans community is heartbreaking, so please join us at Bath’s 1st Pride on Sunday 18th August 2024 and help us celebrate our LGBT+ history, fighting continued discrimination and honouring our difference.”
