Pride 2003
Leicester Pride was held on Saturday 21st June 2003 and was a great success!
More photos on the old
Leicester pride web site. | Press
Room for Pride 2003
Good weather, a really nice friendly crowd of people and excellent organisation.
The organisers of Leicester Pride, the annual festival for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, have declared Leicester Pride 2003 a 'stunning success'.
Held on Saturday 21st June 2003, the event opened with a vibrant carnival parade through the city centre involving almost 800 members of the local community. The event continued with a multi-cultural Festival in Victoria Park that was attended by more than 10,000 people throughout the day. Richard Clark, chair of the volunteer organising committee and event manager said:
"This has been our best event yet and a stunning success by any standard. Every aspect of the day from the Parade to the Main Stage and all the different attractions in the Festival Arena worked beautifully. The amazingly positive feedback from people across the city confirms that we have staged an event that truly captures the spirit of Pride, giving the local community, our friends and families a fantastic day of celebration."
Screen icons represented in the line-up included the inevitable
camp classics Bette Davies, Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton,
contemporary favourites including Jodie Foster and Brad Pitt
but also a wide range of Bollywood stars such as Madhuri Dixit
and Shah Rukh Khan and Black actors Whoopie Goldberg and Denzel
Washington.
Further adorned with a huge number of rainbow flags (again made
at the Committee's making events), the Parade crowd was bright,
colourful and beautifully vocal in celebration, helping to propel
the parade on its high profile route through the city centre.
Di Spence described the reception from the city's many thousands
of Saturday shoppers lining the route:
"The people of Leicester couldn't have been more warm in
their reception. On- lookers applauded the parade throughout
the entire route, they were even whistling and applauding from
the top decks of busses!
Leicester is known for its multicultural
communities and this is a clear and wonderful sign of the value
and affection given to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community." Taking its theme as "From Hollywood to Bollywood
and Beyond!'', the 2003 Leicester Pride Parade assembled in the
city centre at midday and gathered its largest ever crowd prior
to its departure at 1.00pm.
The theme – designed to capture
the diversity of the local LGBT community – was represented
in a hundred placards depicting stars of the silver screen and
floats made by local community groups. Di Spence, the Pride Parade
Manager explained: "Our theme – "From Hollyood to Bollywood and
Beyond!" – celebrates Leicester's vibrant multi-culturalism
and recognises diversity within the LGBT community.
The community
voted for their Ultimate Icons on-line and in the city's gay
venues and we chose the top 100 stars to make into rainbow-coloured
placards at our volunteer Making Events. It's fantastic to see
the way people have joined in, coming in costume to add real
colour and creativity to this year's Parade."
A stunning
guest appearance from Gina G performing her dance floor favourite,
'Ooh Aah … Just a Little Bit', captivated the audience.
The closing party by Abba-land brought to an end a programme
that was unique amongst Pride events in the Midlands.
Highlights of the 2003 programme included local
live bands Summerhouse and Pussy Galore, the Dhol Enforcement
Agency (D.E.A.) with their spectacular display of Punjabi drumming,
Bollywood dancers Armi and Sal offering a hugely popular and
energetic interpretation of the song 'Punjabi No. 1' from the
movie 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke', boyband FY8 and a stunning
guest appearance from Gina G performing her dance floor favourite,
'Ooh Aah … Just a Little Bit'. The closing party by Abba-land
brought to an end a programme that was unique amongst Pride events
in the Midlands and across the UK. Sal Khalifa, the Pride Stage
Coordinator said:
"I'm delighted that the audience were so entertained by
the programme throughout the day, enjoying the sun and ever-changing
line-up. We've always tried to do something a little different
on our stage and it was wonderful to see such a diverse range
of acts embraced and applauded. The crowd for Gina G was absolutely
huge, the biggest we've ever had in front of our Stage, and they
loved every moment of her performance.
Opening Ceremony
The Parade goers were welcomed from
the Main Stage by the Lord Mayor, Counsillor
Ramnik Kavia, who
praised the festival organisers and
the contribution made by the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender
community to the life of the city.
Also speaking in the opening ceremony
were Ian Burford and Alexander Cannell,
the first couple to have their relationship
acknowledged in London's ground-breaking
Partnerships Register. Speaking of their
experience, Ian and Alex challenged
Leicester to follow a similar path,
a call echoed by the festival crowd
who roared their approval.
The arrival of the Parade in the city's beautiful
Victoria Park heralded the start of the Leicester Pride Festival.
The Parade goers were welcomed from the Main Stage by the Lord
Mayor, Counsillor Ramnik Kavia, who praised the festival organisers
and the contribution made by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community to the life of the city.
Also speaking in the opening ceremony were Ian Burford and Alexander
Cannell, the first couple to have their relationship acknowledged
in London's ground-breaking Partnerships Register. Speaking of
their experience, Ian and Alex challenged Leicester to follow
a similar path, a call echoed by the festival crowd who roared
their approval.
Main Stage
The end of the opening ceremony marked the start of the performance
programme on the Main Stage. Seven hours of continuous live performance
offered a bold fusion of music, dance and cabaret, setting tomorrow's
pop superstars alongside the very best local live bands.
Elsewhere in the Festival Arena, the Dance Tent, sponsored again
this year by Leicester's gay men's health project TRADE, took
on a distinctly disco feel. Lots of love and effort went into
the inside décor of the tent which resembled a marriage
between Moulin Rouge and 21st century disco! The music policy – a
mix of funky house, disco classics, and something a little harder – kept
the tent busy right up until the end of the festival.
In another unique development, Leicester Pride's Community Venue
Bars in the Beer Tent, Dance Tent and Chillout Tent were stocked
and staffed by local bar owners from the city's gay venues. Richard
Clark, Pride Chair, explained:
"All of the bar stock and many of the bar staff – including
several well-known faces – have been donated free of charge
by our venue partners Bossa, the Dover Castle, the Phizz, Quebec,
the Rainbow & Dove, Soho, Streetlife and the Vaults. With
their help, every penny of profit made from our bars will go
towards paying for this and future Pride events in the city – we
cannot thank them enough."
To round out the fun, Leicester Pride offered a host of other
attractions including the LGB Centre Community Marquee, home
to a wide variety of community and public-sector organisations,
a Multi-Media Art Gallery displaying works by local artists,
the Leicester Pride: A Living Community video installation highlighting
the diversity of LGBT identities and the very popular print-making
workshops that encouraged kids to get covered in paint throughout
the day. Across the other side of the park, the Wildecats Football
Tournament, won by local team the Electric Yetis, and the Fun
Zone inflatable rides kept crowds busy in the blazing sunshine.
Sponsors of Pride 2003
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