PRIDE FRINGE & EVENTS

Festivalgoers won’t need to wait until July for this year’s Newcastle Pride celebrations to begin, with a programme of exciting events announced today for the city’s first ever Pride Fringe, set to take place from June. 

A new addition to the North East calendar for 2025, Pride Fringe will offer a wide range of live entertainment, comedy and theatre, along with LGBTQIA+ networking opportunities at a host of local venues across the early summer months ahead of the highly anticipated Newcastle Pride Festival on 19th and 20th July, which is presented in partnership with NE1 and Newcastle City Council.

As part of the celebration, North East drag royalty and Pride Radio favourite, Ophelia Balls, will also be taking to the stage, debuting their very own one-woman show, ‘A Life Not in Heels’, on Friday 20th June at Northern Stage. For the very first time, and without a safety net, Ophelia will be sharing heartfelt, hilarious, and unforgettable stories from their life as a legendary North East drag queen.

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Other highlights of the Pride Fringe programme for 2025 include an immersive screening of the Wizard of Oz at Tyneside Cinema on Thursday 12th June, featuring some of the region’s favourite drag artists. Pride Speed Friending at NQ64, will take place a week later, on Thursday 19th, encouraging attendees to meet new people through a mix of games, chats and chilled out vibes, and the iconic ‘Pedro Pascal says Trans Rights Cabaret’ will take place at the Alphabetti theatre on 19th July.

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Read on to see all the events, plus more being added...