Pride Cymru 2022
Eric Page returns home and enjoys the wonderful atmosphere of Queer love in the Welsh Capital, Cardiff. After the pandemic pause Pride Cymru returned with a massive turn out, blazing sunshine and a huge cheer in Cardiff on Saturday, August 27 as thousands of people marched through the main streets of Cardiff in support of LGBTQ+ rights.
The Cardiff Pride march is a community parade, filled with protest, performance, and some fierce looks, with all of Wales main LGBTQ+ groups, venues and employers taking part along with hundreds of smaller support and social groups, it’s a lush parade – as they say there.
The theme of Unity and Uniqueness was shared across the parade with a strong focus on inclusion and Trans rights, some of the best placards I’ve seen at Prides this year and a wonderful friendly atmosphere. With Gay Choirs singing, NHS Wales staff, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, University of Wales, Unions and political parties the mile long plus parade was a riot of colour and calls for equality. By 11am the streets were lined for the parade with many people bringing their families. Mark Drakeford the First Minister of Wales was seen walking around in a rainbow tie talking to the folk and being gently mobbed by people wanting a selfie, kiss or to shake his hand. It’s so refreshing to see elected politicians meeting their voters face to face, he’s obviously adored by most Welsh folx and tweeted later about his day.
There was an attempt at disruption by a very small anti trans protest groups who attempted to push their way into the parade protesting Lesbian erasure but seemed intent on disruption. Refused entry onto the parade, moved on by the police and quickly side-lined by the good-natured parade and supporting crowd who drowned out their rants with 15,000 voices raised as one in support of Trans Rights.
Pride organisers said “There is no place for hate at Pride. And as our parade said today loudly and clearly ‘trans rights are human rights’,” said Gian Molinu, chair of Pride Cymru, in a tweet posted by the organisation on Saturday evening.
The Pride events over two days was thronged with a superb line up – Bimini doing a stunning live set which whipped the crowd up into a frenzy and living their best Cardiff lives for Mel C’s superb set which closed Saturday night. The main stage taking place in the Cultural Quarter with the Celtic Gothic splendour of the City Hall as a background and the best bank holiday sunshine possible, it was a huge success. St Mary’s Street, hung with huge Welsh and rainbow flags looked stunning in the bright warm sunshine. The Red Arrows did a thunderous fly over to open the event. Cardiff Castle, it’s walls bathed in rainbow lights at night, hung with dozens of flags fluttering in the light breeze. It looked fantastic. All the venues were thronged all weekend and packed at night, showing just how well the Welsh capital can party. They’re a friendly crowd in Cardiff, and once again the Pride Cymru team delivered a safe, inclusive, and fun event with a focused passionate and community led activism at its heart.
Pride Cymru have released details and early bird tickets for their 2023 event, more details on their website here:
The theme for this year’s event is #Unique&united / #UnigrywacUnedig. The campaign aims to encourage members of LGBTQ+ communities and beyond to use their voice and be proud of their identity and to fight together for equality and recognise the strength of working tougher as diverse communities with a common aim. 
50,000+ people are expected to attend the event on Cardiff City Lawns over the bank holiday weekend with events running Sat and Sun in the celebration of inclusivity and diversity. The forecast is for hot sunshine! Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend 2022 is Wales’s biggest celebration of equality and diversity. Over two days, 27th and 28th August bank holiday weekend, Pride Cymru embraces the Welsh capital to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
There will also be thee packed stages with Mel C, Boney M and Bimini headlining along with a host of LGBTQ+ performers including Victoria Stone, Adele Roberts, Booty Luv and Mary Mac. And plenty of food, drink and market stalls at the ticketed family friendly event, under 5’s go free. Pride Cmyru is offering up a superb dance area hosted by DJs Alex Selio, Esther Taylor & Leonce, supported by a Community Stage celebrating the best of Welsh queer talent.
Welsh Youth Services and Child Friendly Wales, in association with Welsh LGBTQ+ youth groups Impact LGBT+, Goodvibes and Constellation, are curating a LGBTQ+ youth space, open and inclusive to all. And Deaf Cymru Pride will be hosting their own community space and line up. Pride Cymru became the first Pride event in the UK to be accredited with a Silver Award by ‘Attitude is Everything’ in 2015 in terms of improving accessibility for deaf and disabled attendee’s and has now achieved Gold Award making it only the second Pride in the UK to have that standard.
Learn more or book tickets here: 
All the diverse city bars will once again be thronged, the mains streets leading up to Cardiff Castle decorated with huge Welsh dragon flags and rainbow banners, Cardiff really knows how to dress and throw a party, and this easy to traverse city is fun to explore on foot.
The LGBTQ travel landscape has undergone a transformation, now discerning queer travellers can grab a film festival in Mumbai, watch a procession of canal boats during the world’s only floating Pride Parade in Amsterdam or enjoy epic road trips, romance vacations, foodie adventures. Chapters are organised by theme, including invaluable tips from how to spice up your vacation by choosing the right LGBTQ dating app to planning your same-sex destination wedding.
From Cape Town to Copenhagen, destinations in every corner of the globe have become vibrant and inclusive gay meccas. Stuffed full of engaging lavender hued illustrations by 
That for the Rainbows is a given, but what became more apparent last night is that as a musical ensemble this choir is coming of age. There is a stronger sense than a ever of accomplishment at every level. The balance of voices is better than ever, the quality of those voices and the sense of ambition too. The Rainbows are not content with belting out a fancy set of karaoke pop, far from it, and even when they do tackle pop they do it with verve, with interesting and often complex arrangements and challenging harmonies and rhythms. All in all it makes for an excellent evening of entertainment and the packed room laps it up, not just there to cheer on their mates but genuinely impressed by what they can achieve under the guidance of 
Last night’s programme was well chosen with plenty of new material, some excellent solos and delightful break out groups that allowed the choir to highlight some exceptional talents. The two pieces from Fauré’s Requiem were very impressive with very strong solo parts. Shallow from A Star Is Born was equally impressive proving the choir’s ability to handle a wide range of musical challenges and Chasing Cars was truly a memorable moment with some fantastic use of silence and really dramatic dynamics.
It’s also worth mentioning that this time around I notice a marked change in the choirs application of phrasing, something so often a mystery to community choirs. Now the Rainbows can do it and they can do it well.
They remind us we are not alone, that things will and do get better and that we are the agents of this change, together. All LGBTQ+ communities, working in step to challenge all prejudice and bigotry.
There is a huge range of voices here, from well-known Queers from the Rainbow Pantheon of lore to new voices, from new places, across age, class, gender, ethnicity, geography and time, but saying the same thing, ‘ I am me, I am here, I am worthy of respect’ . this is said at Prides, parliaments, rally’s, prisons, on the internet, television and medias in front of huge crowds, at elections, rally’s, funerals and in writings preserved at the time. Reading these speeches back, along with the concise explanation of who, where and when they were made will give you the queer shivers, and remind you that our struggles is one of fighting together, of extraordinary bravery, of doing the right thing, of fighting for those who are different for us, of inclusion, of respect, of intransient, dignified demands to be SEEN and heard.
Peter Tatchell gives us a wonderful foreword setting context clearly and author Uglow reminds us of the importance of political narratives and storytelling, and how we must see ourselves in the stories around us, and how we are taught to ignore the LGBTQ+ histories that swirl around us. In their powerful introduction Uglow also remind us that our struggle is cyclical an unending , unity is standing with our allies and fighting for their entitlement as they fought for us. Great LGBTQ+ speeches reminds us that word matter and when used in the ways shown in this book are the most powerful things we have to share, inspire and empower freedoms.
My companion and I had very different experiences, he chose to follow the protagonists, exploring their narratives and spaces as they moved through the atmospheric and perfectly curated sets. A highpoint was to explore Hephaestus’s office alone, interacting with the wood panelled grand office, dressed with 1930 furniture, pictures, object de art. The set giving him more of a narrative and made more sense than the actors themselves. However you may choose to navigate the Burnt City, following the characters, randomly roaming or systemically exploring each of the spaces on offer and happening on action and plot by chance you’re going to have a stunning elusive fragmented experience. The action is danced, rather than performed and Maxine Doyle’s sensual crepuscular chorography allows the dancers to explore modern themes of ancient storytelling. You either like or loath this type of movement and dance, I’m no great fan but as one element in a much larger sumptuous tapestry it’s enjoyable. My companion was enthralled by it. As a promenade performance you can really get close to the performance as it unfolds around you.
Everyone is masked, not just mouth masks but upper face masks, robbing us of our expressions, giving us all the same blank white ghostly look, like ghoulish voyeurs we float around the action, being drawn by blood, laughter, sex, love or death, the highpoints of flesh the magnets that we circle, unable to influence or change, just to watch, peep out of our masks, not even sure who we, or the people around us are. It’s a brilliantly disconcerting way of disempowering an audience but frees us up to respond in a less performative way ourselves. We are ghosts in this narrative machine, and the action unfolds around us in small private performances or huge perfectly choregraphed set pieces, stunning in their reach and discipline. The evocative lighting across the buildings adds more disconcerting experience and the ever-present underscore of music and sound scape propels us onwards. Stephen Dobbie’s music fills the vast spaces, soaring and roaring, robbing us of the ability to be still or relax, its climax a full on rave.
I had some astonishing moments, allowing the sets, special effects, wind machines, music, dance, every moving crowd and endless choice to coalesce into stolen gloriously odd moments; laying back on a garden bench watching pin strobe lines wheel above me hypnotically, in a Greek market square, holding on to the gripping hand of a half-naked prophetess as the rest of the audience looked on, breathing in and out in unison, wonderous. I watched a murderous fashion show/marriage take place on a monumental concrete catwalk alter which ended in a bathroom murder straight out of Dallas. Stalked in the underworld with a nonbinary bodied underworld deity, crunching antler, bone and sand underfoot in the candlelight as a dead princess was whirled around with an aerialist to a haunting throbbing dirge. Explored a secret drag queens dressing table, in a hastily abandoned house replete with wigs, sequined dresses and the stale scent of regret, opening purse and sewing box to find an endlessly intricate tiny story unfolding in my hands. Pushed through a wardrobe full of dry cleaning to emerge, alone, in a huge caged bedroom filled with stuffed owls. Just utter bonkers delight.
The story takes in the fall of Troy, but is a metaphorical choregraphed representation of war, displacement, death, power, propaganda, the experience of populations under siege or held captive by a repressive state and Punchdrunk present two very different spaces in Brunt City, joined by a linked narrative, relationships, conflict, love and ultimately war. Opening as a supposed museum tour, we wander in small groups through the pre-show introduction about Heinrich Schliemann’s 19th Century excavation of Troy, giving us a peep into the blood, rage, and gore yet to come and then emergence blinking into a maze of neon lit tiny streets and recently abandoned rooms, claustrophobic confusing and designed to split groups, couples and any sense of coherence up. Go with it. Embrace the singular.
The bar is a Queer joy, hidden in plain sight, with the show a delicious Weimar cabaret of decadent debauchery, singers, drag hosts and dancers slithering all over each other and us, lasciviously. I wanted to spend longer in the bar, I loved it there ( especially as it took me an hour to find it! But stick around after the show as the bar stays open) it was such fun, but as always with a good immersive experience the order of the night is FOMO. Do I stay here and watch this unfold or move on, what am I missing, what else is going on a room, tent, space or breath away from me. I give it up and let myself float though this stunningly curated space, opening doors, checking wardrobes ( always, always check a Punchdrunk wardrobe out…) , laughing with sheer delight at the fun that’s been built into these sets, and there are more than 100 spaces to explore, each detailed to the dust.
Burnt City runs until Dec 2022 & you can buy tickets, and sell a kidney if you can’t. Seriously, it’s THE immersive experience of the year and well worth the trip up to a rather delightfully reinvented Woolwich and Punchdrunks’ new permanent spaces, if you love spectacle and WOW factor then you’ll adore this clever promenade performance, but if you’re looking for meaning, or epic storytelling then you’ll leave unsatisfied. I was thrilled by Burnt City but really didn’t understand what was happening around me, but after two hours of endlessly wandering around, exploring and occasionally coming across some epic orchestrated piece of action, I was more than happy with my experience and understood that this eccentric, rich and very strange tribute to Greek mythology has worked its special magic.
This is whodunnet for the whodat generation, but with quite a few oddly old references, certainly in keeping with the chronology of the play, but opaque to many of the younger people attending. This farce is executed with panache, choreographed with elegant daftness, giving all the various actors a chance to show off their physical comedy skills, and show off they do. It’s a very polished performance, everything sliding in and out of play and view, with a measured narrative rhythm, but this need to keep all the pieces in the air exposes some pacing issues which detract from the energy and there are times when it feels like filler material.
I certainly enjoyed Cluedo, it’s fun , I laughed out loud, the cast are great and the set is fun, folding in and out to echo the layout of the rooms in the original game. There’s some delightful physical daftness played out with doors, entrances and secret passages explored in a surreal way with the dimensions of the set. It’s very meta, or rather trying very hard to be, with our demented butler played by Jean-Luke Worrell 
I found the tired ho-mo-sex-ual jokes tut worthy, and ending the play by outing the queer character as straight was just weird (as it was in the film), there’s some peculiar rough edges to the dated in-context script too, nursery rhymes and spiritual hymns making some-kind-of ‘alluded to’ point …..that ain’t nostalgia, it’s uncomfortable. With so much updated and so much just imported wholesale from the film there was a lost opportunity to bring the script up into a fully inclusive space. Some well written political jokes which were really funny but weren’t given the space they needed to land got lost in the timing issues.
When it did work it shone, they certainly make a scene of the crime, with some delirious character acting, silly accents, glorious puns and giggle worthy word play, perfectly peculiar surreal moments, and the fun and furious fast action and really cool slow-mo set pieces stood out. The dynamic tempo allowed the play to run roughshod over the thin premise of the game. The audience certainly seemed to enjoy themselves and the cast did too. Even if we’ve all seen the ‘oh dear, my moustache’s falling off by accident never happened before’ gag a few times too often, it was done with sincerity and the audience believed in it.
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