Festival goers who don’t want to miss out on this year’s main stage entertainment at Northern Pride can now buy their tickets in advance.
This year’s event – taking place at Newcastle’s Town Moor over the weekend of 22-23 July -will continue in the format of recent years with two distinct areas – The Festival Arena and The Community Village.
And due to spiralling costs and the continued after effects of the pandemic, this year will see a small charge introduced to enter The Festival Arena.
Northern Pride has remained the only event of its kind in the region not to have a charge attached, and while access to The Community Village remains free, this year organisers have introduced a small cost to access The Festival Arena, to ensure it can maintain its usual high standards across the entire festival.
In addition to the Main Stage - where the yet-to-be-revealed big name acts will perform -The Festival Arena will also feature the BeScene dance and cabaret zone, which will showcase performers from across Newcastle’s LGBTQIA+ scene.
The Festival Arena will have bars and food stalls, along with the funfair and access to the Platinum Bar and Garden – sponsored by Bobby’s Newcastle – for those who have bought tickets for the new and improved VIP space.
Tickets start from £6 for each day or £10 for a weekend pass.
Northern Pride will be working with its charity and not-for profit partners to gift tickets to their service users, with festival attendees having a ‘Pay it Forward’ option on the ticketing platform which will allow Northern Pride to donate additional free tickets to those who may be unable to purchase them,.
Northern Pride is also encouraging local businesses to take advantage of partner opportunities which will also help donate extra tickets for charities and not for-profit partners.
“This is a great opportunity for an organisation or company who want to support Northern Pride in a small way to buy passes that can be distributed to people who may not have the funds,” said Ste Dunn, Director of Northern Pride.
Ste added that there had been no option but to make a charge.
“This hasn’t been an easy decision to make, but if we are to keep Northern Pride Festival at the level people expect, while maintaining a free to access community event, we have had to introduce a charge for the Festival Arena,”
“Costs have increased massively and this is the only way we can provide such a fantastic event in the current climate.”
Organisers have ensured that there are still free aspects to the event, which includes the return of the Community Village with its stand out feature, the Curious Arts stage.
Following on from its success last year, the Community Village will also bring back the sports and active life zone and the LGBT Northern Social Group will return to support those who may be attending Pride for the first time.
“We are committed to keeping the Community Village free,” said Ste.
“This area is right at the heart of the Pride movement, creating a safe space for people to come together in grass roots activities and activism.”
The Community Village will also see the return of the Family and Youth zone and the Health and Wellbeing area, which for the first time, will operate across the whole weekend.
The Rainbow Village and its market stalls has previously only run on the first day of Pride, however this time it will be open on both Saturday and Sunday, following requests from attendees at last year’s event.
“We are sure the LGBTQIA+ community will understand this decision and will support this year to ensure we really do have one of the best events to date,” said Ste.
Tickets for over 12s are now on sale at www.northern-pride.com with the option to also upgrade and buy a Platinum Pass.
Businesses can learn more about partner opportunities by heading to www.northern-pride.com/supporterguide
