Inside the pride events that champion DIY culture

An all-Bristol line-up will be playing at an alternative Pride event

Queer people in Bristol say there is a demand for more accessible pride events that put women and trans people at the front.

Campaigners have come together to offer alternative pride events that are open to people with access needs - and "keep the DIY spirit alive".

The Eat Up Collective will be hosting its own Pride afterparty at the Exchange - with the first-ever all-Bristol line-up of queer bands.

Jet Middlefinch, from the collective, said: "We want to be there for underrepresented people even within the LGBTQ community - especially trans people and women."

Eat Up offers workshops for queer musicians who want to find a way into the music scene

The event will be accessible both from a financial and disability perspective, added Mx Middlefinch, who uses "they" and "them" as personal pronouns.

There would be no strobe lighting, and the venue was wheelchair accessible.

Mx Middlefinch said: "We want to be an alternative to the public face of official Pride - as much as we love drag and cis performers - we want a space for people who are not on the forefront."

Eat Up hosts workshops year-round for queer performers who wanted to find a way into the Bristol music scene.

The collective then offered them their first gigs, to "level the playing field", Mx Middlefinch said.

"The feedback we get is that people wish more things like this existed," they added.

"We try to keep the spirit of the DIY culture alive.

"We're still proud queer people - but maybe quietly proud. We're quite nerdy."

The band Freakshow has championed the need for more inclusive spaces

One of the bands playing at the event is Freakshow, an all queer group of friends who decided to make music together.

"This event represents everything we stand for: queer inclusivity," Tash Payton, on keys, said. "It means a lot to us as a non-male queer band to be seen, individually to us personally not just as a band.

"We've seen inclusive spaces like this grow recently, but there could always be more."

The band's show would be "chaotic", Ms Payton said, "because we are just a big group of friends".

They describe their music as "Johnny Cash mixed with funkadelic if they had a queer baby".

'There's a space now for gender queer musicians who are open about this'

Alex Garden is a folk musician who has planned the first ever Bristol Pride ceilidh at the Old Market Assembly.

"There are a lot of queer musicians in Bristol's folk scene, it has become a kind of safe space for us," Mx Garden, who also uses "they" and "them" as personal pronouns, said.

"I geared this event towards people who feel they don't fit in with more traditional ceilidh events.

"I want the event to represent the folk scene in Bristol, and take it outside its context."

They added they had recently seen more alternative pride events pop up and the official pride events were starting to diversify in response.

"There's a space now for gender queer musicians who are open about that and willing to embrace that part of themselves."