Norwich Pride was founded in 2008 by Julie Bremner and Michelle Savage.[2] Bremner was a civil servant and was politically active from 10 years of age in 1979, becoming a Norwich resident after attending the University of East Anglia from 1987, and going to her first pride marches in London in the 1990s. Savage was a school counsellor.[3] The two stated at the time that they were "fed up with austerity";[2] Bremner has since said she was "angry about the banking crisis that had led to the whole country paying for other people's crimes, but wanted to harness that energy to do something positive," and wanted Norwich "to feel more like a city [she] belonged in." The idea for Norwich Pride began with an email from Bremner to Savage, asking if she would like to organise such an event.[3]
The first Norwich Pride in 2009
The first Norwich Pride in 2009 ran from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 July[4] and was attended by approximately 3,000 people,[5] more than Savage's expected "few hundred".[3] The slogan for the event was "let's turn Norwich into a rainbow," and most of its funding came from trade unions. Events included 'Camp It Up Cabaret' on the Friday and the first Norwich pride parade on the Saturday from Chapelfield Gardens to the Forum, which was launched by the Lord Mayor of Norwich and preceded by an Oxjam concert organised by Oxfam.[4][6] A multi-faith service was held at St Peter Mancroft Church that afternoon,[7] and Norwich Castle raised a rainbow flag on the day.[3] The event was attended by prominent LGBTQ human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.[4] Some Christians attended anti-LGBTQ protests during the procession and handed out leaflets which included words deemed "hateful" and "violently offensive" by Norwich Pride organisers.[8] According to one attendee, these protesters held placards with bible quotes such as "the wages of sin is death."[9]
2010s: Rise in popularity and sponsorship
In 2010, an interfaith church service was held at the Octagon Chapel in the city entitled Coming Out as a Spiritual Practice on the day of the parade, in an attempt to avert the "religious prejudice" seen at the parade the previous year.[8] Also as a response to the anti-LGBTQ protests, artist Helen Simpson wrote to every church in Norwich and asked them to knit small squares of different colours, making a 40-metre (130ft) rainbow scarf from the 1,500 squares she received. The scarf was blessed at City Hall in 2010 and then hung on its balcony annually for Pride, though it was later thought to have been lost or binned.[9] Other events aside from the parade to the Forum at the 2010 event included lectures and a Ladyfest concert headlined by Viv Albertine of punk band The Slits.[5]
Tatchell again attended the event in 2011, and participated in a "Question Time style debate" with MP Chloe Smith. It was again supported by the city's Lord Mayor.[10] Turnout at the 2013 parade was "way in excess of the expected 5,000," according to Savage,[11] which was cited as "record numbers" for the event. Norwich Pride booked out the Forum for a week, with organisers stating that it was "all about visibility".[12] Organisations such as anti-domestic violence charity Broken Rainbow, school advocacy charity Educate and Celebrate and trade union Unison attended the 2015 event.[13] In 2016, insurance company Aviva began sponsoring Norwich Pride.[14]
The event in 2017 featured an LGBTQ question time involving Phyll Opoku-Gyimah and Ruth Hunt, as well as art exhibitions, fitness sessions, and performances from Jack Rose and Helen McDermott.[15] Josh Elms and Jo Rust attended the 2017 event, inspiring them to found King's Lynn Pride the next year.[16] The 2018 march was attended by approximately 10,000 people, and featured a "rainbow river," a fifty-metre long pride flag that was carried through the parade.[17] Savage praised its "explosion of colour", including the presence of pansexual and non-binary flags.[3] Event organisers estimated that 10,000 people also attended the event in 2019.[18]
2020s: COVID-19 pandemic and sponsorship changes
Norwich Pride became a registered charity in 2020.[19] That year, the parade was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] Despite this, the march was recreated in digital form using video clips of people taking part. The event also adopted the progress pride flag designed by Daniel Quasar for the first time, which was projected onto the walls of Norwich Castle.[21] The 2021 event was also called off due to continued safety concerns about the pandemic. Instead, smaller events took place around the city, working with local venues and businesses.[22]
A bus wrapped in Pride colours was introduced in 2023
Norwich Pride returned for the first time after the pandemic in June 2022.[20] That year, Aviva became the event's main sponsor.[14] For the 2023 event, a bus wrapped in the colours of the pride flag was unveiled in May.[23] The event itself included five stages across the city centre, as well as an art exhibition and a makers' market.[24][25]
Prior to the 2024 event, Aviva stated that it would no longer sponsor Norwich Pride after members of Norwich Trans Pride called for organisers to drop the company "in solidarity with our siblings facing a genocide in Palestine", due to its investments in Barclays, which itself had ties to defence companies supplying Israel as well as fossil fuel firms. Aviva cited the "safety of our people at the event" as the main reason it made the decision to pull out, but said that they "remain[ed] committed to the Pride agenda".[14] The Norwich Labour Group was told not to display their party flag during the parade due to anger concerning the policies of Wes Streeting.[26] The day after the parade, arsonists set fire to some pride flags on a stall on Norwich Market as well as a nearby jewellery shop.[27]
In May 2025, train operating company Greater Anglia was announced as the main sponsor of Norwich Pride for that year.[28] Greater Anglia is set to be nationalised under Great British Railways in October 2025.[29] Prior to the 2025 event, the 40-metre scarf first created in 2010 was found in church storage "eaten by mice," and restored by its original artist Helen Simpson alongside members of the Octagon Unitarian Chapel and Norwich Quakers, who added a new panel representing the progress flag. On the day of the event, it was carried from the Octagon Chapel to St Peter Mancroft Church before being hung across the atrium of the Forum.[9] Expected to draw 20,000 people,[9] the event featured around 120 stalls in six different locations including at The Forum, Theatre Street and Chapelfield Gardens. Drag queen Crystal held a Q&A session and performed.[19]
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