The host city for this year’s Northern Pride event is Newcastle, which was selected back in 2019 for the 2020 event but had to be delayed due to the pandemic, and this year will take place from the 22nd to the 24th of July.

NewcastleGateshead Initiative and partners, Cllr Nick Kemp leader of Newcastle City Council and Cllr Martin Gannon of Gateshead Council have given their commitment to making NewcastleGateshead an inclusive and LGBTQ+ friendly destination.

Businesses and organisations throughout NewcastleGateshead have also pledged their support, including Nexus who shared its positive messages about Pride and what value the hosting of the event at Newcastle will bring to the city.

Each of Nexus’s messages was put onto a segment of all 11 colours of the Progress Pride flag which will eventually be put together to create a gigantic Pride flag and will go ‘on tour’ around the region, gathering more pledges of support for the Pride community. After the tour, the flag will become part of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative’s participation in the official UK Pride march, which will take place on Saturday the 23rd of July.

Nexus who own and operate Metro have been keen to support the LGBTQ+ community and earlier this year saw LGBT performers take part in its biggest ever community arts programme.

Nexus is the official Travel and Accessibility Partner for the event and Martin Kearney said:

“We’re delighted to be a key partner of Northern Pride this year, in what will be its biggest event ever.

“We’ve always been a big part of major events in the northeast, and we’re looking forward to showing visitors to UK Pride a warm welcome when travelling on Metro.”

Sarah Green, chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative said:

“We are so excited to be welcoming UK Pride to Newcastle. It’s absolutely brilliant to be showing the diversity of life and showing visitors the warmth of the North East welcome. It demonstrates what an inclusive, tolerant, and safe city we are and allows us to support our LGBTQ+ community.”

Ste Dunn, Director of Northern Pride, said:

“We are delighted that we finally get to deliver on our promise to elevate and celebrate the North East’s LGBTQ+ community. We want to welcome everyone to Northern Pride to help us celebrate and create a legacy for UK Pride.”

Friday night will see the launch of the UK Pride celebration and will be followed by the Pride March on Saturday from 12pm which starts at Newcastle Civic Centre and ends at the Town Moor.