ON SATURDAY, September 3, Reading’s LGBTQ+ community will celebrate with the annual Pride parade and Love Unites Festival 2022.
With non-stop music across three stages and a number of performance spaces, the event is full of exciting acts and attractions.
The biggest change from previous years is the extended parade route, which now runs down to the Riverside, by the Oracle.
This year’s parade will begin at Reading Station, opposite The Oakford Social Club, and will proceed through Blagrave street, Friar Street, and down West Street past Broad Street Mall.
It will follow along past the mall, then down to the Oracle and along the riverside, up Duke Street, back along Broad Street, up to and through Forbury Gardens, and on to the festival ground in King’s Meadow.
Pride has also teamed up with B Radio, who will be stationed at the Love Unites Festival in Kings Meadow for the duration of the event.
From there, B Radio will be broadcasting its Parade Bangers, with DJ Matthew Hemmaty sending the sounds of the parade over the airwaves from the main stage.
Organisers invite those joining the parade to bring portable speakers or radios and tune in on-route.
It is believed to be the first time a UK Pride parade will transmit its music over a commercial radio network as it happens.
Reading Pride Trustee, Mikey Russell, said: “As well as the parade, we have three amazing stages, with our headline act Nadine Coyle – which is big – we also have the Pride Xtra Stage with Sum Ting Wong from Drag Race UK,”
This year’s Main Stage will see event founder Jamie Wake leading proceedings as a host alongside Wilma Fingadoo, Drag Idol winner Son of a Tutu, and Dr. Bev, and music from Carter the Bandit, Natalie Gray, Ring the Alarm, and Bentley Jones.
Sum Ting Wong will host the Pride Xtra stage, joined by Reading’s Got Drag host Big Jay.
Marking only the first anniversary of their drag performance in September, Big Jay will also host the Trans Pride after-party at the Rising Sun Arts Centre.
Grace Anatomy, Amber Rose Turner, and DJ Enbee will also make appearances on the Pride Xtra stage.
The Pride aLive stage, partnered with Readipop, will see performances from Elucidate, tipped as one of Spotify’s Hot New Bands in 2019, rap collective OSP, and indie-folk outfit Colours & Fires.
“Reading is the home of artists,” Mr Russell said, “and our Pride aLive stage really shows off all of our local artists who are LGBTQ+ or allies, and from all sorts of genres.”
He said also that the festival is a safe space for families: “We have a stage for under 15s, with activities designed for the little-uns.
“We have our story hour going on too, with two of our drag queens.”
He says also that accessibility is extremely important: “We’ve had BSL interpreters for a while now, but this year we have a raised platform for disabled users, with limited on-site parking reserved for blue badge holders.”This year’s Pride parade and Love Unites 2022 festival will take place on Saturday, September 3, and is sponsored by Unison.
The parade begins at Reading train station at 10.45am, arriving at the festival site for noon, when it opens.
To book a place on the parade, visit www.readingpride.co.uk.
