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The Pink Picnic Returns in 2021!

Salford Pride are excited to officially announce that Salford’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Non-binary, plus (LGBT+) pride event ‘The Pink Picnic’ is confirmed to return to Peel Park on Saturday 7th August 2021! Taking place between 1-8pm in Peel Park, Salford the event will host live music, dance and drag performances, children’s activities, a dog show, a beer tent, and even a private ‘PinkPLUS’ area for that little extra.

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The event is family friendly, dog friendly and is also free and open to all to attend. Salford Pride believes that everyone should have the chance to celebrate and be their authentic self regardless of income. Everyone is welcome to show their support for the LGBT+ community, and embrace the spirit of pride. The Pink Picnic is a grass root event that personifies the true essence of what pride means and what it originally stood for.

This year The Pink Picnic celebrates its 10th anniversary. First Launched in 2011, a few friends thought it would be nice to hold an LGBT+ focussed event to bring people together for a fun afternoon. A modest gathering of 15 or so people was expected, but it attracted around 120 people, and so the picnic was born. The event was rebranded to The Pink Picnic in 2017, and over the past 10 years The Pink Picnic has grown from a small gathering of people to a nationally recognised pride celebration for the local LGBT+ community of Salford and beyond. In 2019 over 5,000 guests attended the event, and after going digital in 2020 digital, and attracting over 12,000 views, we’re thrilled to be back in 2021.

Hosting this year's event are some of our communities finest local drag heroines: Blaq Ivory, Misty Chance, and Viva La Diva. The line-up includes a rainbow of talent, including locals Jess Kemp, HUSK, House of Noir and Ewan, the reigning winner of Salford Pride’s Got Talent. Some famous names including Cheddar Gorgeous (Drag SOS), Sam Callahan (X Factor), 00’s legends Big Brovaz & Booty Luv, and Stooshe (Black Heart) bringing ‘Proud Vibes Only’ and more headline artists to be announced soon!

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“The Pink Picnic is incredibly special as it was set up by the community of Salford for local people and community remains at the heart of everything Salford Pride does.

Pride is a precious time in calendar where we see LGBT+ live, thrive and represented in all aspects of life. The past year has not been without its challenges, so to be able to bring back our flagship event in our 10th year is very exciting. Everyone involved at The Pink Picnic in 2019 had a great time, so we are really excited to bring the event back, bigger than ever before!”
— Ricki Hewitt, Chief of Experience

Unlike previous years, this year's event will be ticketed, due to covid-19 regulations to help ensure the safety of everyone attending, however the event still remains one of the biggest free to attend pride events in Greater Manchester. If you’re looking for something extra, there are PinkPLUS tickets, on sale Friday 4th June 2021, granting pride-goers access to the ‘PinkPLUS’ area, with a private bar, private toilets, 2 free drinks & finger food snacks served throughout the day; even the chance to meet some of our headliners.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Salford Pride, or getting involved, check out salfordpride.org.uk/getinvolved, or sign up as an event volunteer for The Pink Picnic: Applications are open now!

You can also keep up to date with our work in the fight for equality online:

Facebook @salfordprideuk
Twitter @salfordprideuk
Instagram @salfordprideuk

Tickets (free) are available here. Limited PinkPLUS tickets, offering a VIP experience to the event, are available here at a discounted early bird price of £20 until June 18. Further tickets will be released here.

Celebrating Diversity: The Digital Diversity Festival

Celebrating Diversity: The Digital Diversity Festival

Salford Pride are proud to present The Digital Diversity Festival in collaboration with Enigma Events. With three events running over the weekend of 15 and 16 May 2021, the festival will champion diverse communities from within the LGBT+ community, to give a platform, visibility and a voice to communities that have spent too long in the closet…

TDOR: Embrace & Empower

TDOR: Embrace & Empower, our digital, live-streamed vigil showcasing trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming artists including music, poetry, drag and dance. We will pay respects to more than 350 trans and nonbinary people who lost their lives this year to hatred and violence, and also those who took their own lives due to transphobia…

Salford Pride Launch ChitChat Initiative

Salford Pride’s new weekly social support group is organised by the Salford Pride team and offers a safe space to check in and have a chat. Taking place every other Friday, ChitChat welcomes all members of the LGBT+ community to come together and meet like-minded people…

Salford Pride Goes Live

Following on from our announcement on COVID-19, Salford Pride were committed to deliver an LGBT+ pride celebration to Salford and beyond in 2020 and have been working hard behind the scenes to develop a contingency plan.

During these unusual times, solidarity and celebration have never been more important. Over the past few weeks our volunteers have been working hard behind the scenes with our partners, the local community and entertainers to design an event that celebrates the ideals at the heart of The Pink Picnic; community spirit, love without limits and pride for everyone. Salford Pride: Digital on Saturday 20th June from 4pm, right the way through to midnight!

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Gather your friends and family and start the party at Salford City Radio on 94.4fm from 4PM to 6PM for The Pink Picnic Takeover, playing pride anthems, with live music and special guests. Followed by The Pink Picnic: Digital from 6PM to 10PM with headline acts Divina De Campo, Ronan Parke, Rowetta and Charlotte Awbery. Hosted by Venus Quasar & Annabelle Lecter, including Salford’s Got Pride: our online talent show where you decide who wins, with a special guest performance by Rob King. The winner of the competition will receive a slot to perform at The Pink Picnic in 2021.

Closely followed by our Digital Drag Show extravaganza: showcasing local and international drag talent with performances from the fabulous Alfie Ordinary, Cheddar Gorgeous, Saki Yew, Julie Noted, Anna Phylactic, HP Loveshaft, Ellie Ganza, Alexa Spread, Whiplash, Scarly B, Venus and Amanda T Swallows.

The party then continues with P!NKED: The Zoom After Party from 10PM until midnight with beats by DJ Bex Hill. Hosted by Gisele and Sapphire Ruin.

Connor James, Events Officer for Salford Pride, who has led the digital project said:

“We felt as a charity that prides itself on engaging and supporting the local community, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to do something to come together, even when we are all two metres apart and celebrate LGBT+ identities, love and acceptance, without limits.”

For more information about the event, how to get tickets and involved with Salford’s Got Talent visit salfordpride.org.uk/digital

If you’re interested in finding out more about Salford Pride, or getting involved, check out salfordpride.org.uk/getinvolved

Love & Pride Success but there is still more to do...

Salford Pride presents Love & Pride: The Stage Show, a series of short stories, as part of LGBT+ History Month, which this year focuses on poetry, prose and plays in honour of Lyra McKee. Love & Pride: The Stage Show is based on a film by Edward Sebastian Norton, about relating to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic behaviour within an diverse and inclusive society, the progress of the LGBT+ community of the past 50 years, based on real life experiences of people within the LGBT+ community. Thomas McCullough adapted the stories for a live theatrical performance during Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week 2020.

Salford Pride to debut their brand new play at Salford University

Salford Pride are debuting their brand new performance, Love and Pride, at the University of Salford next month, as part of a project with the Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Fund. The play also marks the celebration of LGBT+ History month, in February, the theme of which is poetry, prose and plays.

Performed by the university’s students, Love and Pride will feature three stories surrounding hidden Biphobia, Transphobia and Homophobia through the eye of LGBTQ+ people.

It was written by Thomas McCulloch and is based on a film by Edd Sebastian Norton, two students from the university. Thomas said:

“The evening will also showcase artwork that celebrates queer culture, created by the University’s up and coming artists.”

The Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Fund was set up to raise awareness of what hate crime is and to Increase the reporting of hate crime incidents across the region.

Tickets for the performance at the New Adelphi Theatre on the Thursday 6th February 2020 cost £5, and can be bought from www.fatsoma.com/salfordpride.