Northern Pride was formed in August 2007 after a brief gap in Pride activities following the closure of Pride on the Tyne. A research project was commissioned and carried out by MET Ltd to establish what the North East LGBTQIA+ community would like from a Pride event. These results were fed back to the community in May 2007 and from this feedback, a group of volunteers came forward and formed the first Northern Pride Committee.

 

Northern Pride was incorporated as a limited company in 2009 to give the organisation greater accountability and protection and is a registered charity. The festival has become a regional event with a large following and we aim to build on this in the future to ensure we achieve our mission statement:

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“To proudly promote Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender culture through public celebration of our heritage and engaging in education and cultural activities that enrich the community, whilst raising awareness of the issues people face regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics whilst building mutual respect and working to end discrimination”

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We achieve our aims and objective by holding various events, workshops, seminars and campaigns throughout the year which culminates in the pride festival in July.  The first of these pride festivals were held in July 2008 and was attended by over 2,500 people. The three-day festival now includes a March through Newcastle city with entertainment, various LGBTQIA+ safe zones, information stalls, and market stalls across the city plus an array of satellite events on the buildup to the festival which now attracts over 70,000 people.