Bath to host 'exciting' first Pride event

Trustees and the organising committee have pulled together the city's first ever pride event

A city is set to host its first ever major pride event as organisers say it is "long overdue".

Bath Pride will take place on 18 August and will include a parade through the city, a picnic and charity and music stalls at the Holburne Museum.

Lead organiser, Tommy Parker, 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.”

The event will start from 12:00 BST at the museum, where live music and charity stalls will take place.

From 13:00 BST there will be march through the city streets for an hour before an after party at Komedia with a WIG! drag cabaret.

Mr Parker said the event is "so important" for queer people to advocate for "equality and justice"

Diomede, the 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”.

Claire Warner, who has helped organise the event, said: “This is for the queer community but also allies, it's an opportunity for a community as a whole to come together and to celebrate LGBTQ+ lives.”

She added the march will be a chance to celebrate how much progress has been made, but also as a "reminder of the work still to be done".

Performers will be on stage at the WIG! drag cabaret evening show

There will be information on stalls from various charities which will be there to aid the most vulnerable people in the community.

Ms Warner said the committee plans on Bath Pride becoming an annual event.

“Earlier this year a charity was set up with the hope that if we register as a charity, really think about the values and the goals, that we can build upon it year by year and make sure that there is an annual event for the people of Bath,” she said.