Bristol Pride 2020 takes off… online!

The annual Bristol Pride festival took off this week on Youtube and Facebook with over 20 events all streaming for free to showcase Pride and bring the community together, albeit virtually, until Sunday, September 13.

The hope is that Bristol Pride Online will still be the chance to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, showcase diversity, whilst overcoming prejudice and hatred and help to reduce isolation. Many artists and  businesses, including the festival headline sponsor Unite Students along with Arts Council England, have come together to help ensure this vital community event could still take place and the Pride team have worked tirelessly over the last few months to ensure Bristol Pride took place this year.

Pride Day will take place on Saturday, September 12 and will see a spectacular day broadcast of performances from festival headliners and acts that would have been performing on the festival stages on The Downs with a mix of new performances from stars recorded in lockdown as well as special footage being released from previous Pride festivals.Over 40 acts will be taking part in a seven-hour broadcast including performances from Melanie C and Sink The Pink from the 2019 festival, Alexandra Burke from 2018, and performances from Sophie Ellis-Bextor recorded at home and from last year’s festival.

The Main Stage showcase will also see performances from Dr Meaker, Boney M, Bright Light Bright Light recorded from his home in New York, Bristol band Avec Sans, LGBTQ+ rapper LE1F and Lady Gaga tribute Donna Marie. There will be a special message recorded for Bristol Pride from Jake Shears, lead singer of the Scissor Sisters.

The Cabaret Stage performances will see incredible drag queens and kings coming together to bring the joy and celebration of Pride to life with sets from Mary Mac, Drag With No Name and Son of a Tutu, trans artist Chiyo, Muslim drag queen Asifa Lahore and non-binary artist Oliver Assets who was voted one of the top drag kings in the world.

The Virtual Pride Day starts at 11am with a Virtual Parade featuring videos and phortos sent in from members of the public during lockdown to ensure visibility for the community at a time with hate crime is on the rise. The main festival will start from midday and will continue to showcase variety with performances from local dance groups and a showcase of local talent via the Dance and New stages, performances from deaf artists on all the stages and even a special rainbow bake tutorial from Great British Bake Off star Briony Williams who will be joined by several other stars from the show with messages of support for the community. The evening will see an afterparty of DJ sets streamed online, including a headline set from Horse Meat Disco.

Bristol Pride has also been working with local community and support groups to record messages that will be shown throughout the day to highlight the support that exists out there and the great work these organisations are doing be that in areas of mental health, social groups and LGBTQ+ refugee support.

Highlights to look out for over the next two weeks include:

Trans And… on Thursday, September 3 where a series of interviews and videos cover topics ranging from neurodiversity and popular culture to gender euphoria and coming out later in life.

A Family Day on Saturday, September 5 will see free adventure workouts and a kids disco rave part from the Bath-based SuperPirates, drag queen story readings and a Disney Princess Sing Along with Miss Disney.

The Pride Dog Show on Sunday, September 6 which will see exciting videos and photos that include waggiest tail, best trick, proudest pup and most like owner.

The Theatre Night on Tuesday, September 8: A commissioned online performance of SPLINTERED, based upon interviews with queer women in Trinidad & Tobago exploring the joy and celebration of Carnival but also what that means when you are queer in a culture that can be homophobic.

A Wellbeing Day on Wednesday, September 9 will see two free online yoga sessions, including the exhilarating Disco Yoga.

QTIPOC Inter City Gathering will take place on Friday, September 11 following on from this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests with Pride hosting a special conference to bring together several QTIPOC organisations to discuss recent events, intersectionality and visibility.

All events will be streamed online for FREE via the Bristol Pride YouTube Channel and via the Bristol Pride Facebook Page.

For more information on events and artists, visit the Bristol Pride website and follow them on social media: Twitter @bristolpride, Facebook @brispride.