Liverpool Pride

Established in 2010, Liverpool Pride returns for its sixth consecutive year and continues to be one of the city’s most visual and flamboyant events of the Summer.

The date always coincides with the anniversary of when murdered gay teenager Michael Causer tragically lost his life. Michael died on 2 August 2008, and the festival was specifically created in his memory as a way to celebrate his life and empower the LGBT communities. This year’s Liverpool Pride takes place a week before what would have also been Michael’s 26th birthday.

Each year, the Liverpool Pride team invite the public to vote for the year’s chosen theme, and previous years these have included Superheroes, Nautical But Nice and Glam Fairytales. The theme with the most votes for 2015 is Love Is No Crime, and festivalgoers are encouraged to go along dressed in their most wild and wonderful interpretations of the theme.

Liverpool Pride has announced details of a revised format of the event for 2015 due to the charity’s financial constraints – taking it back to its first principles around inclusivity and equality with FREE events for the LGBT community.

Changes to the event on Saturday, 1 August, mean that there will be no event at the Pier Head as first announced, or road closures at the Stanley Street Quarter. There will no outdoor alcohol drinking zones.

However, event highlight the Pride March will go ahead making its way from St George’s Hall through the city centre, and the Michael Causer Vigil will remain key parts of the event.

The increasingly popular and poignant Liverpool Pride March remains a major part of the day’s activity. The march will make its way through the streets of the city centre in celebratory style.

Organisers are again encouraging as many groups, organisations and individuals to participate as possible. The march will also feature guest speakers representing the LGBT communities.

There will be extra activity leading up to the increasingly popular and poignant Liverpool Pride March from St George’s Hall, which remains the main part of the day. This will include an extended muster time on St George’s Plateau from 10.30am, with a programed schedule of activity running through until the march start time of 12pm.

Liverpool Pride will also host a free to visit Community Pride zone, sponsored by After Adoption. This includes workshops, face painting, crafts and games, drama classes, acoustic music, market traders, and a speakers’ corner where specially invited guests from around the world will focus on life issues facing the LGBT community. This will run from 1pm to 5pm with a site still to be confirmed.

There will also be Pride At The Pictures. The 100-seater mobile Picturehouse Cinema will screen four feature films, one of which will be the premiere of a new LGBT film made in Liverpool. The cinema will be open between 2pm and 10pm, and tickets are £6 per screening and available to book in advance via Picturehouse@FACT.

The winners of the Out On Stage competition organised by The Michael Causer Foundation, will also be performing on the day, the unprecedented music prize offered the chance for Liverpool’s best unsigned music stars to perform with headline slots at Liverpool Pride.

Liverpool Pride 2015 will be brought to a poignant close with the Michael Causer Vigil on Sunday, 2 August, the vigil will take place in Temple Square (between Victoria St and Dale St from 5.30pm.

Established in 2010, Liverpool Pride is a charity run entirely by volunteers. This year the organising charity has faced difficulties in attracting additional sponsors to help fund the format that attenders have come to expect in recent years, due to the current economic climate and escalating event costs.

Despite the changes, the Pride team is keen to stress that an event will go ahead for the sixth consecutive year but in a new scaled down format for 2015 while they go through a transitional year.

Visit www.liverpoolpride.co.uk for more information.