Bolton Pride

Last updated

Bolton Pride
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s) Bolton, Greater Manchester
CountryUnited Kingdom
Inaugurated16 October 2015 (2015-10-16)
Most recent24 - 26 May 2024
Website https://www.pridebolton.co.uk

Bolton Pride is an annual Pride event celebrating LGBTQIA+ life in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, and was first held in 2015. [1] The event includes a parade through the town and live music in the town centre. [2]

Contents

History

The first Bolton Pride was founded in 2015 by James Edgington and Liz Pycroft. The creation of the event was partly a reaction to the release of statistics in early 2015 which showed that hate crime against LGBT people in Bolton had increased 135% in the previous year. [3] The aim was to encourage Bolton to become more LGBT friendly and used the slogan "Love Bolton, hate homophobia". Ian McKellen was guest of honour at the first Bolton Pride, which was held in October. [4] [5]

For Bolton Pride's second year a parade was introduced and continued the ‘Love Bolton, hate homophobia’ theme. It took place from 23 to 25 September 2016 and included a candle-lit vigil to commemorate victims of hate crime. [6]

Bolton Pride 2017 was held on the weekend of 30 September and 1 October. It featured a candlelit vigil, an LGBT film night, and live music. [7] The parade featured around 500 people with floats. [8]

In 2018 Bolton Town Hall was lit in rainbow colours to celebrate Pride. Bolton Town Hall (21928117529).jpg
In 2018 Bolton Town Hall was lit in rainbow colours to celebrate Pride.

Bolton Pride 2018 took place on 21–23 September. It consisted of a vigil, stalls in the market and Victoria Square, and a parade themed around The Greatest Showman and finishing in Victoria Square, [9]

Bolton Pride 2019 was held over three days from 20 September to 22 September. The event was organised by volunteers from across Bolton and the surrounding areas. The festival weekend began on Friday 20 September 2019 with a Bolton FM street party in the afternoon with the Town Hall being highlighted in the colours of the rainbow flag in the evening. On Saturday 21 September 2019, there was a parade from Queen’s Park to Victoria Square where there was live entertainment in Victoria Square until early evening with evening events at local venues – The Alma Inn [10] [11] and The Venue. [12] On the final day, Sunday 22 September 2019, there was a Family Fun Day with activities, entertainment, and, stalls from local charities, community groups and businesses in Victoria Square and the Market Place. [13]

The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in person in August 2022. [14] [15] In spring of 2022 Edgington, one of the co-founders, stepped down and appointed Kevin Wright as the event's new director. [16]

Awards

Each year, Bolton Pride holds the Diversity Awards to recognise work supporting the LGBT community in Bolton. [17] [18]

in 2017, Bolton Pride won the Tell MAMA Award at the #No2H8 Crime Awards for their role in dealing with hate crime. [2] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McKellen</span> English actor (born 1939)

Sir Ian Murray McKellen is an English actor. With a career spanning more than sixty years, he is noted for his roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people frequently experience violence directed toward their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws prescribing punishment for homosexual acts, or by individuals. It may be psychological or physical and motivated by biphobia, gayphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, aphobia, and transphobia. Influencing factors may be cultural, religious, or political mores and biases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">São Paulo Gay Pride Parade</span> Annual LGBT event in Brazil

São Paulo LGBTQ Pride Parade is an annual gay pride parade that has taken place in Avenida Paulista, in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, since 1997. It is South America's largest Pride parade, and is listed by Guinness World Records as the biggest pride parade in the world starting in 2006 with 2.5 million people. They broke the Guinness record in 2009 with four million attendees. They have kept the title from 2006 to at least 2016. They had five million attendants in 2017. As of 2019 it has three to five million attendants each year. In 2019, it was also the second larger event of the city of São Paulo in terms of total revenue and the first in terms of daily revenue. In 2010, the city hall of São Paulo invested 1 million reais in the parade. According to the LGBT app Grindr, the gay parade of the city was elected the best in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Ukraine</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Ukraine face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT individuals; historically, the prevailing social and political attitudes have been intolerant of LGBT people, and strong evidence suggests this attitude remains in parts of the wider society. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence in 1991, the Ukrainian LGBT community has gradually become more visible and more organized politically, organizing several LGBT events in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Kryvyi Rih.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EuroPride</span> Annual LGBT event in Europe

EuroPride is a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established pride event or a significant LGBT community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride in London</span> Annual LGBT event in London, England

Pride in London is an annual LGBT pride festival and pride parade held each summer in London, England. The event, which was formerly run by Pride London, is sometimes referred to as London Pride.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NYC Pride March</span> Event celebrating the LGBTQ community

The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBTQ community in New York City. The largest pride parade and the largest pride event in the world, the NYC Pride March attracts tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June, and carries spiritual and historical significance for the worldwide LGBTQIA+ community and its advocates. Entertainer Madonna stated in 2024, "Aside from my birthday, New York Pride is the most important day of the year." The route through Lower Manhattan traverses south on Fifth Avenue, through Greenwich Village, passing the Stonewall National Monument, site of the June 1969 riots that launched the modern movement for LGBTQ+ rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Pride (Ottawa)</span> Annual LGBT pride week festival in Ottawa, Ontario

Ottawa Capital Pride is an annual LGBT pride event, festival, and parade held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Gatineau, Quebec, from mid to late August. Established in 1986, it has evolved into a 7 to 9-day celebration of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, advocating for equality, diversity, and inclusion in the National Capital Region. The festival offers bilingual events in English and French, known as 'Capital Pride / Fierté dans la capitale', seamlessly blending local pride with national importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Kosovo</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Kosovo have improved in recent years, most notably with the adoption of the new Constitution, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Kosovo remains one of the few Muslim-majority countries that hold regular pride parades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in the Baltic states

Baltic Pride is an annual LGBT+ pride parade rotating in turn between the capitals of the Baltic states; Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. It is held in support of raising issues of tolerance and the rights of the LGBT community and is supported by ILGA-Europe. Since 2009, the main organisers have been Mozaīka, the National LGBT Rights Organization LGL Lithuanian Gay League, and the Estonian LGBT Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in Manchester, England

Manchester Pride is a charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on LGBTQ+ rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WorldPride</span> International LGBTQ Pride celebration and parade

WorldPride is a series of international LGBT pride events coordinated by InterPride; they are hosted in conjunction with local LGBT pride festivals, with host cities selected via bids voted on during InterPride's annual general meetings. Its core events include opening and closing ceremonies, a pride parade, and an LGBT human rights conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Liverpool</span>

The LGBT community in Liverpool, England is one of the largest in the United Kingdom and has a recorded history since the 18th century. Many historic LGBT firsts and pioneering moments in the LGBT rights movement either took place in Liverpool or were achieved by citizens of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride parades in South Africa</span>

There have been pride parades in South Africa celebrating LGBT pride since 1990. South African pride parades were historically used for political advocacy protesting against legal discrimination against LGBT people, and for the celebration of equality before the law after the apartheid era. They are increasingly used for political advocacy against LGBT hate crimes, such as the so-called corrective rape of lesbians in townships, and to remember victims thereof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride Cymru</span> Gay pride event in Cardiff, Wales

Pride Cymru is an LGBT pride festival held annually in Cardiff, Wales.

The No2H8 Crime Awards is a national award ceremony established in 2016 as the National Hate Crime Awards, designed for upstanding individuals who have contributed toward the cohesion of different communities within the UK through the tackling of hatred and prejudice. It is run by a coalition of organisations and was founded by Fiyaz Mughal OBE as a national, annual event. The Chair of the No2H8 Crime Awards is Richard Benson OBE.

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Białystok Equality March</span> Event in Poland

The first Bialystok equality march took place on 20 July 2019 in Białystok. Approximately a thousand pride marchers were opposed by thousands of members of far-right groups, ultra football fans, and others who violently attacked the marchers. Following the attack, solidarity events were held in Poland.

Pride in the Desert is the annual LGBTQ pride event for Tucson, Arizona.

Saima Razzaq is a British political activist and educator, co-chair of SEEDS and Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Birmingham Pride. Razzaq actively campaigns for LGBT inclusive education in schools and was the first Muslim woman to lead a Pride parade in Britain.

References

  1. "Home". Bolton Pride. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Bolton Council: equality information (January 2019)". Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. "Organisers speak out over negative reaction to Bolton Pride plans". Bolton News. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. Anderson, Andrew (15 October 2015). "Bolton is the latest town to join LGBT, with pride". Independent.co.uk . Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. "Ian McKellen gust of honour at Bolton Pride". Attitude . 17 May 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. "90 images from the Bolton Pride weekend 2016". The Bolton News . 25 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. Heward, Emily (30 September 2017). "Bolton Pride brings hundreds out to paint town rainbow colours". Manchester Evening News . Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  8. "Bolton takes Pride in annual festival". ITV News. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. Bennett, Chloe (17 September 2018). "Bolton Pride is back!". Xplode Magazine. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  10. Pilkington, James. "Bolton Pride 2019". Bolton FM . Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  11. "Alma Bolton - Bolton - Pub | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  12. "The Venue Bar". The Venue Bar. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  13. "Bolton Pride rolls into town for three days of festivities". The Bolton News . Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  14. Wilson, Chloe (13 April 2022). "The dates for this year's Bolton Pride have been revealed". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  15. Jackson, Jasmine (6 August 2022). "Bolton Pride lights up the town with parade and entertainment". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  16. "All change at Bolton Pride as it comes back with a 'boom'". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  17. "Bolton Council: equality information (January, 2018)". Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  18. McMullin, Kate (1 August 2016). "Nominations now open for Bolton Pride awards". The Bolton News . Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  19. "Winners of NO2H8 Crime Awards 2017". No2H8 Crime Awards. Retrieved 23 September 2019.