Nottinghamshire Pride is a registered charity in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. It organises an annual

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

pride festival A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The eve ...

with the same name, held within the city of Nottingham. The event usually takes place during July. The charity has stated that "the purpose of Pride is to provide a safe focal point to bring together our community to celebrate our diversity and a sense of pride which for some people may be difficult in everyday life, due to prejudice and injustice." The event usually consists of a day-long celebration, including a parade, stalls, art, music and other activities. Nottingham Pride MMB 98

History

The first pride festival in Nottingham was held on Broad Street in 1997 under the name Pink Lace, a name it retained in 1998 and 1999, when Pink Lace was held at

Nottingham Castle Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Normans, Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortr ...

2000s

In the year 2000, the festival took the name Nottingham Pride and was held on the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment (the other section is the Chelsea Embankment), a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London, England. Built in the 1860s, it runs from the Palace of Westminster to ...

alongside the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

. Two pride festivals, Nottingham Pride and Pink Lace, were planned in Nottingham in 2001, but neither were successful. No pride festival was laid on in Nottingham in 2002. Nottingham Pride returned in 2003 at the

Arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

, where each subsequent Nottingham Pride festival took place until 2010, by which time the number of attendants had increased to a point where the park was no longer a suitable venue.

2010s

Nottingham Pride 2010 took place at the

Forest Recreation Ground The Forest Recreation Ground is an open space and recreation ground in Nottingham, England, approximately one mile north of the city centre. This urban space is bounded by the neighbourhoods of Forest Fields to the north, Mapperley Park to th ...

on 31 July. It was officially opened by the

Lord Mayor of Nottingham The Lord Mayor of Nottingham is a largely ceremonial role for the city of Nottingham, England. The position was historically Mayor of Nottingham; this was changed to Lord Mayor in 1928. The position is elected every May by Nottingham city coun ...

, Brian Grocock, and the event was headlined by

The Cheeky Girls The Cheeky Girls are a Romanian singing duo consisting of identical twin sisters Gabriela and Monica Irimia. After appearing as auditionees on '' Popstars: The Rivals'', they achieved success in the UK charts with four top 10 hits between 2002 ...

, with other acts including Kenelis,

Lisa Scott-Lee Lisa Scott-Lee (born 5 November 1975) is a British singer from St Asaph, Wales. She is a member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003, achieving only min ...

, and

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatric ...

. Pride 2011 had over 20,000 visitors, with headline act

Ruth Lorenzo Ruth Lorenzo Pascual (; born 10 November 1982) is a Spanish singer, composer and television personality, best known in the UK for been the eighth contestant eliminated in the fifth series of the British TV talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. ...

performing. That year,

E.ON UK E.ON UK is a British energy company and one of the largest suppliers of energy in the UK, following its acquisition of Npower. It is a subsidiary of E.ON of Germany and one of the Big Six energy suppliers. It was founded in 1989 as Powergen, ...

was the principal sponsor of Nottinghamshire Pride. In 2018 Pride was held on Saturday 28 July in the city centre of Nottingham. The parade included many live events by various individuals, stalls, art and music, along with a pride parade that took place at 11 am. The parade began at Lister Gate and finished at Broad Street. Pride 2018 was sponsored by various organisations, including

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. Nottingham has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous ...

, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

. In 2019 Nottinghamshire Pride was held on Saturday 27 July in Nottingham city centre.

References

External links

* Culture in Nottingham Pride parades in England Recurring events established in 1997 1997 establishments in England 1997 in LGBTQ history {{LGBT-event-stub