After months of negotiations National Student Pride returns to the Brighton Dome complex between March 1-3, 2013. Last year over 1500 students attended the event, and organisers expect a significant increase this year. Elton John and David Furnish have agreed to be ambassadors for National Student Pride.
The event starts with registration drinks at Charles Street Bar before the opening party at Revenge Club on Friday, March 1.
On Saturday 2, there is a free daytime festival at the Brighton Dome (aged 16+) featuring community stalls, live music, a job fair with companies such as Ernst & Young, Accenture, IBM and Asda present.
The major event of the day – Student Question Time will be hosted by Dragons’ Den and BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Evan Davies and gives an opportunity for students and panellists to discuss important issues from an LGBT perspective, including homophobia in sport and other current topics. Confirmed names on the panel include John Amaechi OBE (first NBA gay basketball player and commentator at the London 2012 Olympics), Liz Bingham ( managing partner for People UK & Ireland, Ernst and Young), and Matthew Todd (editor of Attitude magazine). More names will be announced shortly.
A new feature this year are the Student Pride Awards. Gongs are up for grabs in various categories, including Journalist of the Year (for a student who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in reporting on LGBT issues), Activist of the Year (for a student who has made significant contributions to LGBT campaigns at their campus and local community), and Tweeter of the Year. The Awards will take place during the daytime festival on Saturday March 2 and will be hosted by The Feeling front man Dan Gillespie Sells.
As the sun sets on the Saturday evening students will embark on a tour of Brighton’s gay village with exclusive drinks deals on offer at a range of bars before returning to the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange for a club night.
Last year this was headlined by Stooshe. Watch this space over the next two weeks for the headlining act this year! Students will continue to party the night away at the official after party at Revenge from 2am. For anyone not keen on sleeping, Legends will play host to the final entertainment of the weekend with a Sunday afternoon of Cabaret.
Despite the harsh economic climate, an investment in equality and diversity more than pays for itself. This has been recognised by Ernst & Young, who are platinum sponsors of National Student Pride for the third year running, and Accenture who will be silver sponsors for the second year running, joined by Asda and The Co-operative Group as additional silver sponsors.
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