Swindon and Wiltshire Pride returns this Saturday

Wiltshire's biggest LGBTQ+ festival returns this Saturday, with headliners 90s pop band EAST17 and Veronica Green from RuPaul's Drag Race, season 2.

The excitement is building for the free LGBTQ+ festival sponsored by Nationwide building society that takes place at the Town Gardens in Old town, Swindon on Saturday 7th August. There is no Parade this year so the event will start at midday and carry on until 10:20pm.The day is about promoting equality and diversity, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and signposting to support services and organisations.

Jo Sharpe (Chair) “Many thanks to everyone that has supported SWP, and our amazing sponsors that have stood with us, alot of planning and changes have been made to ensure our event can return, help us make Pride 2021 a safe and amazing event, by following the guidelines we have in place”. 

There will be International and local performer's entertaining you throughout the day on the Nationwide Main Stage and Stephen G Sloan Stage. The atmosphere is buzzing for the return of this event.

There are a wide range of different activities and zones to visit such as; Arts and Crafts Zone, Shopping zone, Wellbeing tent, Community zone, Deckchair zone, Youth safe space and Public sector zone and the new Family circus zone which opens at 11:00am, run by Fandangos which has lots of shows and activities to learn new circus skills. 

We also have a range of food vendors and Pride bars on site. 100% of the profits from the bar go back to the Swindon and Wiltshire Pride charity, this helps to keep the event FREE.

The celebrations continue after Pride at the official Pride after-party with the only and only Danny Beard. Tickets available on the door for £8.50.

While the easing of restrictions means that some safety measures will no longer be a legal requirement, we know a lot of people remain cautious. In line with the government advice to act carefully, we feel it is important to continue with certain measures to be on the safe side.

Here is what we are doing to make sure everyone feels as safe as possible at our Event.

• NHS track and trace on arrival
• Queue management
• Temperature checks on entry to the event
• Contactless payments at our bars (preferred payment method)
• Hand sanitiser stations
• Extra washbasins
• Covid risk assessment

Although the legal requirement to wear a face covering in England ended on 19 July, the government expects and recommends that people continue to wear a face covering in crowded spaces. 

The Covid Response Community Van will be at the event, there is a booth in the van so that members of the public can come on board to have a lateral flow test (LFT – 30 minute COVID-19 test). We will also be giving away LFT packs for people to take home, as well as be on hand to offer advice and information on a range of wellbeing topics. 

Please remember for some people this is their first event they have attended since lockdown started, please keep your distance from those around you and respect each other. 

For more information head to our website swindonwiltshirepride.co.uk