READING’S annual Pride celebrations are back in town today (Saturday, September 5), celebrating the queer community and continuing the ongoing campaign for equality.
Reading Pride has been bringing an annual parade and festival to the town for over two decades, where individuals, organisations, and community groups come together to show their support for LGBTQIA+ people.
This year’s event kicks off at 11am with the Reading Pride Parade, which sees attendees marching through town to the festival site.
It begins at 11am, starting outside Reading Station, from which it will continue along Blagrave Street and onto Friar Street, before turning down Queen Victoria Street and onto Broad Street.
At Broad Street Mall, it turns again, along St Mary’s Butts, across Gun Street, turning to move along The Oracle Riverside, then towards Market Place.
From there, it passes through Forbury Gardens and onto the festival site in Kings Meadow.
From noon, the Reading Pride Love Unites Festival brings live music and performances across three stages, as well as family-focused areas, a dance stage, stalls, and rides.
This year will see headline performances form Smalltown Boy, Ace, and returning act Lolly, as with hosts Sum Ting Wong, Black Peppa, Wilma Fingadoo, and Bodacia also welcoming Nicolette Street, Nicole Allan, Billy & Louie, Misha Dawn, and Kodachrome.
Over on the Pride Xtra stage, local queens Miss Charley O’llocks, Grace Anatomy, Lentil Pulse, Madam Lether, will be joined by Vanilla Fuzion, Cherry Elizabeth taking to the stage for fan-favourite drag performances throughout the day.
Meanwhile the Colours & Fires stage will continue the legacy of the late Sophie Sheehan, who, alongside years of working with the Pride team as an organiser of the event, also performed across the UK as part of Colours & Fires.
The stage will welcome live music from the likes of Snorkelling with Cats, Bowsey Woods, Alana Basinger, and White Label.
Reading Pride Parade begins outside Reading Station at 11am, followed by the Love Unites Festival in Kings Meadow from noon.
Full details, including how to donate and stage times, are available via: readingpride.co.uk
