| Leeds Pride | |
|---|---|
 Freedom Bridge over Lower Briggate during the 2018 event | |
| Date(s) | Sunday 21 July 2024 |
| Begins | 10.30 am |
| Ends | 10 pm |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Location(s) | Leeds, England |
| Inaugurated | 2006 |
| Participants | 65,000 (2019)[ citation needed ] |
Leeds Pride is an annual LGBT Pride celebration held in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Leeds Pride is one of the biggest free pride events in the UK.
Leeds Pride first took place in August 2006 (then called Leeds Gay Pride) - there had been previous Pride events in Leeds such as Hyde Out in 2000 and in the few years before the first Leeds Pride, an informal picnic on Woodhouse Moor. Leeds Pride was supported by the city council and local business with 6,500 attending. [1] In 2009 the numbers attending the event had almost doubled, to 12000, with over 1,000 participating in the parade. [2] In its tenth year (2016) the name had changed to Leeds Pride [3] and it had over 40,000 people in attendance, with the figure expected to grow in year on year. [4]
The 2018 Leeds Pride took place on Sunday 5 August with over 100 floats. [4] [5]
The parade starts at Millennium Square at around 2.00 pm finishing on Lower Briggate by The Calls with a huge party. [2] [3] [4] The economic impact to the city centre of Leeds is approximately £3.8 million. [6]
Buildings on the parade route often have temporary decorations in the colours of the Rainbow flag. In 2017, the railway viaduct over Lower Briggate was painted in these colours and named 'Freedom Bridge" by Leeds City Council and Network Rail. [7] Steps going up to the station are also painted in the same colours as is a telephone box (an aql wi-fi hub, close to their headquarters) on Bridge End.
In association with the 2018 event, Leeds Civic Trust announced that it would be expanding its blue plaque scheme to create a trail of Rainbow Plaques to commemorate those who have contributed to the LGBT+ story of Leeds. [8] A map has been published showing the location of 15 plaques. [9]
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term is used in the United Kingdom in two senses. It may be used narrowly and specifically to refer to the "official" scheme administered by English Heritage, and restricted to sites within Greater London; or it may be used less formally to encompass a number of similar schemes administered by organisations throughout the UK. The plaques erected are made in a variety of designs, shapes, materials and colours: some are blue, others are not. However, the term "blue plaque" is often used informally to encompass all such schemes.
The Leeds Corn Exchange is a shopping mall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a grade I listed building.
Briggate is a pedestrianised principal shopping street in Leeds city centre, England. Historically it was the main street, leading north from Leeds Bridge, and housed markets, merchant's houses and other business premises. It contains many historic buildings, including the oldest in the city, and others from the 19th and early-20th century, including two theatres. It is noted for the yards between some older buildings with alleyways giving access and Victorian shopping arcades, which were restored in late 20th century. The street was pedestrianised in the late-20th century.
Millennium Square is a city square in the Civic Quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was Leeds's flagship project to mark the year 2000, and was jointly funded by Leeds City Council and the Millennium Commission. Total cost of production was £12 million.
Leeds Civic Hall is a municipal building located in the civic quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It replaced Leeds Town Hall as the administrative centre in 1933. The Civic Hall houses Leeds City Council offices, council chamber and a banqueting hall, and is a Grade II* listed building. A city landmark, two 2.3 metres high gold-leafed owls top its twin towers, decorations which are joined by four more owls on columns in Millennium Square, which sits to the front, and a gilded clock on both sides.
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters.
Leeds Bridge is a historic river crossing in Leeds, England. The present cast iron road bridge over the River Aire dates from 1870. It is Grade II listed.
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after the construction of the Leeds Combined Court Centre in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951.
Victoria Leeds is a shopping district and leisure area in central Leeds, comprising the 1990 Victoria Quarter, an arcaded complex of restored 19th century and contemporary shopping arcades, and the 2016 Victoria Gate development. Notable for its role in the regeneration of Leeds' city centre, and a programme of restoration and reuse which included commissiong the largest work of stained glass work in Europe, designed by artist Brian Clarke, to cover the newly-pedestrianised Queen Victoria Street, the 1990 scheme created a covered retail district of linked arcades. In 2016 ,the Victoria Quarter was merged with the newly built Victoria Gate complex to form the largest premium retail and leisure venue in Northern England. The district includes a casino and major stores such as Harvey Nichols and John Lewis and Partners.
The architecture of Leeds, a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, encompasses a wide range of architectural styles and notable buildings. As with most northern industrial centres, much of Leeds' prominent architecture is of the Victorian era. However, the City of Leeds also contains buildings from as early as the Middle Ages such as Kirkstall Abbey, one of Britain's best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries, as well as examples of 20th century industrial architecture, particularly in the districts of Hunslet and Holbeck.
Leeds Civic Trust is a voluntary organisation and registered charity established in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in 1965. Affiliated to the national charity Civic Voice, its stated purpose is "to stimulate public interest in and care for the beauty, history, and character of the city and locality, to encourage high standards of design, architecture and town planning; [and] to encourage the development and improvement of features of general public amenity".
The Calls is an area and street by the River Aire in Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. This district falls within the City and Hunslet ward of the City of Leeds Council. Formerly an area of industry in Leeds, it has now been regenerated with a mixture of uses: primarily offices, residential and leisure.
The Leeds Look describes a modern architectural style using red brick and grey slate roofs used for public and commercial buildings in Leeds city centre. The first examples appeared in the 1980s with the goal of harmonising new buildings with older brick buildings surrounding them. The style is sufficiently widespread and recognisable that it forms a notable period in the Architecture of Leeds.
Pride Winnipeg Festival is a 10-day LGBT pride festival, held annually in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is one of the largest organized pride festivals in central Canada, featuring 10-days of community-organized events, a Dyke March, a rally, Pride Parade, outdoor festival and closing party.
Holy Trinity Church, on Goodramgate in York, is a Grade I listed former parish church in the Church of England in York and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
LGBT culture in Leeds, England, involves an active community of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual. A BBC News Online article published in 2012 stated that, while Leeds City Council has not published statistics relating to the number of LGBT residents, the figure can be estimated at 10% of the overall population, which currently suggests a total of at least 77,000. The tenth year of the Leeds Pride march and celebration, held in 2016, was attended by over 40,000 people.
The Leeds Freedom Bridge is a railway bridge (HUL4/53) that crosses over the area known as gayleeds on Lower Briggate in Leeds, West Yorkshire. This area is also where an annual LBGT parade Leeds Pride finishes, the bridge is now painted in the rainbow colours of the rainbow flag.
Cyril Livingstone (1921–2011) was a Leeds based theatre director, actor, critic and couturier.
Transvestism and Transsexualism in Modern Society, also known as The First National TV.TS Conference, was a conference held in Leeds, England, from 15 to 17 March 1974. It was the first such event to be organised by members of the community. With an educational remit, the conference sought to further understanding of issues faced by transvestites and trans women.
