ORGANISERS OF one of the UK’s biggest free LGBT+ festivals have promised that this year’s event will have some added drama.
Northern Pride Festival returns to Newcastle this summer from 19 – 21 July, with the Festival Arena and the main stage setting up at the Town Moor and Exhibition Park welcoming the Community Village.
And it has been revealed that this year there will be two stages for festival-goers to enjoy, with The Curious Arts Stage making a home at the Community Village for the very first time.
Programmed and run by not-for-profit organisation Curious Arts – which also runs the annual Curious Arts Festival – the stage will celebrate LGBT+ art, putting on a number of family friendly performances across the weekend festival.
Building on the success of Curious Arts’ Drag Storytime – where drag artists read children’s stories to families – at both Ouseburn’s Seven Stories and at the Family and Youth Zone at last year’s Northern Pride Festival, organisers hope the new stage will introduce even more people to Curious Arts’ work.
Ste Dunn, chair of Northern Pride, believes this year’s festival has the potential to be one of the biggest and most diverse yet.
“We have worked with Curious Arts for the last three years at their own festival and we are delighted to welcome them to ours this year with their very own stage in the Community Village,” said Ste.
“The Northern Pride Festival is all about community and that’s why it’s so important to celebrate grassroots performance art and the incredible talent we have in the region.
“We are confident that The Curious Arts Stage will bring something really special to the Community Village and give festival-goers plenty of choice for how they want to spend their time over the weekend.”
Phil Douglas, Creative Producer of Curious Arts said: “Northern Pride is growing and developing every year, we are really pleased to bring our high quality and diverse arts programme to the festival.
“The partnership is truly exciting and increases what’s on offer at the festival while also broadening the representation of the LGBT+ community”
The theme of this year’s festival is Remembering Stonewall, marking the 50th anniversary since the Stonewall riots, which took place during a police raid at popular New York gay bar, the Stonewall Inn.
A reaction against the discrimination the LGBT+ community faced from the police – who regularly raided gay bars in the city at the time – the riots served as a catalyst for the LGBT+ rights movement in the US and around the world.
The festival is free to attend, but those hoping to secure prime viewing spots and access to a private bar and posh toilets can purchase a Platinum Pass at www.northern-pride.com/box-office.
To find out more about Curious Arts, visit www.curiousarts.org.uk.
For more information about Northern Pride, visit www.northern-pride.com or search northernprideuk on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.