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Bolton Pride

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Bolton Pride
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Bolton, Greater Manchester
CountryUnited Kingdom
Inaugurated16 October 2015 (2015-10-16)
Most recent24 - 26 May 2024
Websitehttps://www.pridebolton.co.uk

Bolton Pride is an annual Pride event celebrating LGBTQIA+ life in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, and was first held in 2015.[1] The event includes a parade through the town and live music in the town centre.[2]

History

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The first Bolton Pride was founded in 2015 by James Edgington and Liz Pycroft. The creation of the event was partly a reaction to the release of statistics in early 2015 which showed that hate crime against LGBT people in Bolton had increased 135% in the previous year.[3] The aim was to encourage Bolton to become more LGBT friendly and used the slogan "Love Bolton, hate homophobia". Ian McKellen was guest of honour at the first Bolton Pride, which was held in October.[4][5]

For Bolton Pride's second year a parade was introduced and continued the ‘Love Bolton, hate homophobia’ theme. It took place from 23 to 25 September 2016 and included a candle-lit vigil to commemorate victims of hate crime.[6]

Bolton Pride 2017 was held on the weekend of 30 September and 1 October. It featured a candlelit vigil, an LGBT film night, and live music.[7] The parade featured around 500 people with floats.[8]

In 2018 Bolton Town Hall was lit in rainbow colours to celebrate Pride.

Bolton Pride 2018 took place on 21–23 September. It consisted of a vigil, stalls in the market and Victoria Square, and a parade themed around The Greatest Showman and finishing in Victoria Square,[9]

Bolton Pride 2019 was held over three days from 20 September to 22 September. The event was organised by volunteers from across Bolton and the surrounding areas. The festival weekend began on Friday 20 September 2019 with a Bolton FM street party in the afternoon with the Town Hall being highlighted in the colours of the rainbow flag in the evening. On Saturday 21 September 2019, there was a parade from Queen’s Park to Victoria Square where there was live entertainment in Victoria Square until early evening with evening events at local venues – The Alma Inn[10][11] and The Venue.[12] On the final day, Sunday 22 September 2019, there was a Family Fun Day with activities, entertainment, and, stalls from local charities, community groups and businesses in Victoria Square and the Market Place.[13]

The event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in person in August 2022.[14][15] In spring of 2022 Edgington, one of the co-founders, stepped down and appointed Kevin Wright as the event's new director.[16]

Awards

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Each year, Bolton Pride holds the Diversity Awards to recognise work supporting the LGBT community in Bolton.[17][18]

in 2017, Bolton Pride won the Tell MAMA Award at the #No2H8 Crime Awards for their role in dealing with hate crime.[2][19]

References

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  1. ^ "Home". Bolton Pride. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Bolton Council: equality information (January 2019)". Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. 2019. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Organisers speak out over negative reaction to Bolton Pride plans". Bolton News. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. ^ Anderson, Andrew (15 October 2015). "Bolton is the latest town to join LGBT, with pride". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Ian McKellen gust of honour at Bolton Pride". Attitude. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ "90 images from the Bolton Pride weekend 2016". The Bolton News. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. ^ Heward, Emily (30 September 2017). "Bolton Pride brings hundreds out to paint town rainbow colours". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Bolton takes Pride in annual festival". ITV News. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. ^ Bennett, Chloe (17 September 2018). "Bolton Pride is back!". Xplode Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  10. ^ Pilkington, James. "Bolton Pride 2019". Bolton FM. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Alma Bolton - Bolton - Pub | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  12. ^ "The Venue Bar". The Venue Bar. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  13. ^ "Bolton Pride rolls into town for three days of festivities". The Bolton News. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  14. ^ Wilson, Chloe (13 April 2022). "The dates for this year's Bolton Pride have been revealed". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  15. ^ Jackson, Jasmine (6 August 2022). "Bolton Pride lights up the town with parade and entertainment". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  16. ^ "All change at Bolton Pride as it comes back with a 'boom'". The Bolton News. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Bolton Council: equality information (January, 2018)". Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. 2018. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  18. ^ McMullin, Kate (1 August 2016). "Nominations now open for Bolton Pride awards". The Bolton News. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Winners of NO2H8 Crime Awards 2017". No2H8 Crime Awards. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
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