The date for this year's Nottingham Pride celebrations has been announced. It marks the second year the event will take place after Covid restrictions were lifted.
The date has been confirmed as Saturday, July 30, although no official events have been announced yet. Leigh Ellis, chair of Nottingham Pride, said: "Nottingham Pride has historically always been the last Saturday in July and it's been that way since 1997.
"We were a bit hesitant about our equality march in 2021 but we were astounded by the success of it and the numbers that turned up were incredible. It tells us there is still a desire to celebrate equality and diversity in the city."
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He added: "What we found when we just had the march last year, that organic events emerged after we marched into Hockley. On one street blocked off by building works, a mobile disco turned up and people started dancing.
We wanted to focus on our local talent. Last year we were finally in a position to hire larger acts but what difference does it make when you see people coming together organically? It's people that make the event."
Nottingham Pride has released a promo video which focuses on coming together as a community after Covid restrictions. The promo video was created by videographer, Damien Ebanks, of Ebanks Media. He is excited that Pride is returning for 2022.
He said: "The video was fun to work on. The day itself was pretty intense with all of my camera equipment and I was a sweaty mess, but there was a positive atmosphere and you could sense that people were happy to be out marching for pride again."
The celebrations for Nottingham Pride went online for 2020 with a number of different local acts including drag queens and bands performing. While it was successful, there was a huge turnout the following year as the parade took to the streets.
Drag performers Nana Arthole and Marilyn Sane are busy planning shows for pride 2022. The duo host LGBT+ events across Nottingham under the name, Gladrags.
Nana said: "The Gladrags teams are incredibly excited for the return of Notts Pride and can't wait to see you all to celebrate in style. Every year just gets bigger, better, and more wonderful! We'll be hosting our annual celebration of Notts Pride too with amazing drag performances and DJs."
Katie Adcock from Beeston has been attending the events for a number of years. She is excited Pride will return in July.
She said: "Nottingham Pride is one of the highlights of my year. I love getting together with like-minded friends and seeing the city filled with love and colour. It’s truly a joyful day for all involved."
Becki Crossley has been to pride celebrations in Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham. She is looking forward to the celebrations, the glitter, and most importantly, being part of the community.
She said: "I love the sense of community at Pride and the fact that for a while you can sort of forget that this loud, vibrant celebration of love isn’t always commonplace. I can’t wait to stand amongst like-minded people again this year and just embrace the joy of being queer while covered in glitter and surrounded by friends."
David Edgley of Nottingham's Rainbow Heritage and Notts LGBT Network commented: "People talk about the "LGBT Community", but does it actually exist? There are several micro-communities but on the day of Pride I really do feel that there is one. People are celebrating and visually saying "yes, this is me, here is who am am" in all their varieties."
