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Get an ‘Appy” for Newcastle Pride

One of the UK’s biggest free festivals goes digital today with the launch of its first ever app.

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Mark Nichols, Chair of Northern Pride with Julie Robson Marketing Coordinator at Malhotra Group Limited

Newcastle Pride, the second largest free LGBT festival in the country, returns today with three days of live entertainment including performances by Sinitta, Shayne Ward and the Vengaboys.

To help visitors navigate the extended three-day line-up, which will be spread across two city sites, event organisers Northern Pride have launched the festival’s first ever app.

The app, available to download for i-phone, android and tablet, will serve as a pocket guide to all things Pride, from the best places to eat, drink and stay, to a site map and full details of when and where to see all of this year’s big name acts.

It also offers the opportunity for users to enjoy their own five minutes of fame, by taking a selfie or group shot to be displayed on the huge screens around the festival’s Main Stage at the Town Moor.

Mark Nichols
Mark Nichols

Mark Nichols, Chair of Northern Pride, said: “This year is the biggest Newcastle Pride we’ve ever staged and we’re conscious that with the festival being spread across two sites and three days it may be slightly harder to navigate than usual.

“This app has been specifically designed to help visitors make the most of their Pride experience and ensure all of the necessary information is there, at their fingertips, wherever they go.”

As an added incentive for downloading the app, Northern Pride has teamed up with many of the North East’s biggest business to incorporate a range of exclusive offers and discounts, worth up to £1000.

These offers, covering everything from waffles to weddings, will be accessible via the app before, during and after Newcastle Pride, with many being valid for up to a year.

This includes a series of promotions from app sponsors, the Malhotra Group, who will be offering a different discount every month until spring 2015.

These exclusive discounts, which will be automatically updated, could include reduced rates on everything from dinner at Scalini’s to cocktails at Osbornes Bar and Kitchen or an overnight stay at the New Northumbria Hotel.

Atul Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer at the Malhotra Group, said: “Newcastle Pride is a huge event for the city and one which has brought business to our door for many years.

“We wanted to celebrate the festival’s expansion for 2014 by offering a series of special offers via the app, on top of the already affordable prices we offer.

“We hope that this year’s Pride-goers will make the most of those offers and continue to utilise them even once the festival has finished.”

The Newcastle Pride app, will also include listings of other events being run before and after the three-day festival,

To download app from Newcastle Pride website, CLICK HERE:  or from the Apple store by searching NPride14.

Each download will cost 99p on android or £1.49 on iTunes, with all proceeds being used to help ensure Pride remains free in future years.

Anyone who downloads the app will be given automatic entry into a free prize draw to win a pair of tickets to the Saturdays’ Greatest Hits Concert at Newcastle City Hall on September 9, courtesy of AEG Live.

 

 

Record crowds expected for Newcastle Pride today

Organisers are expecting more than 65,000 visitors to attend the three day festival this weekend – helping to promote community and diversity in the North East.

Shayne Ward
Shayne Ward

Newcastle Pride, runs from Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20, offering a host of live music and family entertainment across the city’s Town Moor and Times Square, including high profile performances by Sinitta, Shayne Ward, Faye Tozer and the Vengaboys.

Sinitta
Sinitta

Highlights at the three-day event include live music at the Pride in the City stage at Times Square, outside the Centre for Life, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday and from 5.30pm until 8.30pm on Sunday, all sponsored by NE1.

The Main Stage at the Town Moor will also play host to a wide range of performances, including a Champagne and Showtunes evening with The Echo-fonics from 7.15pm tonight, Friday 18.

This will be followed from 12.30pm until 6pm on Saturday, with appearances by acts including Sinitta, Faye Tozer and Shayne Ward, and from 11am until 5pm on Sunday, when the Main Stage will welcome S Club 7’s Jo O’Meara, X Factor star Lloyd Daniels and Eurodance group The Vengaboys, plus many more.

On both Saturday and Sunday the Town Moor will also play host to a fairground, range of stalls and various entertainment and information zones, including the Family Zone, complete with a sensory space, circus workshop and arts and crafts, the Youth Zone, for ages 12 and above and the Steve Paske Health Zone, which will be offering free advice and STI Testing throughout the weekend.

Before that, visitors have the opportunity to take part in the annual Newcastle Pride parade, which sets off from the Civic Centre to the Town Moor at midday on Saturday.

Mark Nichols
Mark Nichols

Mark Nichols, Chair of Northern Pride, who organise the event, said: “This is the biggest Newcastle Pride we’ve ever staged and is now officially the second largest free LGBT festival in the UK.

“We’re expecting more than 65,000 people to attend over the course of the three days and, with such a wide range of activities on offer, I’m sure there’ll be something to suit every taste and age.”

Newcastle Pride 2014 is free to attend, though a number of hospitality and ticket packages are also available.

To book one of these packages, CLICK HERE: 

For more information on the weekends events, CLICK HERE:

Venga Boys
Venga Boys

Key events include:

Friday July 18:

6.30pm – 10pm – PRIDE IN THE CITY stage @Times Square

7.15pm – 9.15pm – MAIN STAGE @ Town Moor – Champagne and Showtunes

Saturday July 19:

Noon – PARADE from Newcastle Civic Centre to the Town Moor

12.15pm – 2pm – MAIN STAGE @ Town Moor – Gaynor Marshall, Opening Speeches, Northern Proud Voices, Allan Jay

2pm – 4pm – MAIN STAGE @ Town Moor – Kelly Wilde, Rihanna Reloaded, Betty Legs Diamond, Eliza Doe

4pm – 6pm – MAIN STAGE @ Town Moor – Faye Tozer, Joseph Whelan, Sinitta, Shayne Ward

There will also be stalls, a fairground and various other entertainment zones running throughout the afternoon

Plus there’ll be additional entertainment at the Pride in the City stage (Times Square) from 6.30pm until 10pm with a candlelit vigil taking place at 9pm

Sunday July 20:

11am – 1pm – MAIN STAGE @Town Moor – Pride Radio DJ, Totally GAGA, Kerrianne Covall

1pm – 3pm – MAIN STAGE @Town Moor – Jo O’Meara, Lorraine Crosby, Jersey 4, FriXion, Lloyd Daniels

3pm – 5pm – MAIN STAGE @Town Moor -Tess Tickle & The Draggets, Angie Brown, Vengaboys

There will also be stalls, a fairground and various other entertainment zones running throughout the afternoon

Plus there’ll be additional entertainment at the Pride in the City stage (Times Square) from 5.30pm until 8.30pm

 

 

Glasgow hosts LGBTI Human Rights conference today

Human Rights in the Commonwealth comes under the spotlight at Glasgow Games.

Glasgow Human rights ConferenceHuman rights experts join athletes, media and spectators in Glasgow today in advance of the Commonwealth Games.

Five days before start of competition, and on the eve of Glasgow Pride, activists from around the world will join with academics attending the LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference, hosted by the University of Glasgow.

Currently, 42 out of 53 states in the Commonwealth criminalise same-sex sexual behaviour between adults. The recent Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda has extended and intensified such criminalisation, and a Supreme Court ruling in India has dashed hopes of decriminalisation.

The one-day event, will discuss the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the Commonwealth.

The conference aims to create a focus for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) human rights discussions in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and provide a space to share ideas, practice and campaigns, engaging participants in global human rights issues and ensuring the visibility of Commonwealth LGBTI people and culture.

The conference features three keynote speakers:

• Purna Sen – Former Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat, current Chair of Kaleidoscope Trust and Labour Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion.

• Fiona Hyslop MSP – Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs.

• Frank Mugisha – Executive Director, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

Dr. Matthew Waites
Dr. Matthew Waites

Dr Matthew Waites, Senior Lecturer in the Glasgow Human Rights Network at the University of Glasgow, said: “The primary reason for the criminalisation that we see in Commonwealth nations today is the British Empire, which historically outlawed same-sex sexual acts around the world.

“We are interested in promoting self-conscious recognition of the historical responsibility of British imperialism for the criminalisation of relationships that exists today. From that starting point we can then discuss our revulsion at recent renewals and extensions of colonial criminalisation and how to address these inequalities.”

Purna Sen: Labour Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion
Purna Sen: Labour Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion

Dr Purna Sen, is one of the opening keynote speakers at the conference. She is Chair of Kaleidoscope, former Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion.

Purna said: “Across the Commonwealth lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people are denied equal access to rights, education, employment, housing and healthcare, often on the basis of laws that date back to the British Empire. While it is important to note the colonial origins of much homophobic legislation, Commonwealth nations and the Commonwealth itself must do much more to uphold the values of anti-discrimination set out in the Commonwealth Charter.”

The conference has been initiated and led by Equality Network, Scotland’s LGBTI organisation for equality and human rights, in partnership with Glasgow Human Rights Network at University of Glasgow, and with Kaleidoscope Trust and Pride Glasgow.

Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, will be representing the Scottish Government as the opening speaker. Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, will be greeting her with other speakers including Frank Mugisha, Patrick Harvie MSP, and Monica Tabengwa of Human Rights Watch.

To register for the conference, CLICK HERE:

 

 

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