From 22 – 24 July, Northern Pride will bring together thousands of people from the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, in a weekend of events. Organisers have put in place a range of measures to ensure it is a user-friendly event, as part of its pledge to ensure that everyone can attend the event at Newcastle’s Town Moor.
Accessibility measures
The charity is working closely with Nexus, operator of the Tyne and Wear Metro, to make certain that those who are coming to the event via public transport can easily do so.
British Sign Language interpreters will also be in place on both stages so that anyone with a hearing difficulty is able to fully enjoy the experience.
Northern Pride will also be working with AccessoLoo. This charity provides toilet and changing facilities for disabled people, and will be bringing a high dependency unit including a hoist and special changing facilities.
Noise cancelling headphones will also be available throughout the weekend for anyone who finds the sound levels troublesome or distressing. What’s more, the wheelchair accessible raised platform will return, providing users with a prime viewing spot of the main stage.
Ste Dunn, director of the charity said:
“Northern Pride is an event that should be accessible to everyone and we are taking every measure we can to make sure that’s the case. We are very grateful to our travel and accessibility partners for their support and we are hoping that this will encourage more people than ever to come along to our first in person event since 2019.”
The Metro
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said:
“We are proud to be the official travel and accessibility partner for this year’s UK Pride event as part of our ongoing support for the LGBTQ+ community. Metro is a great way to get to and from Newcastle to take part in what promises to be a fantastic weekend of events, which the whole community can go along and enjoy – and don’t forget that you can now take the kids for free on Metro.”
“The nearest station for getting to Exhibition Park is Haymarket Metro station. All of our stations have step-free access, and they all have tactile paving for people who are blind and partially sighted. Metro is at the heart of the communities that it serves, and we are really excited to be supporting Pride, which is just one of the ways we strive to promote respect and inclusivity.”
“We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to Metro when the festival is on, and when customers alight at Haymarket Metro station they will see our wonderfully colourful rainbow displays inside the station as you go up the escalators.”
What’s on at Pride
Headliners over the course of the weekend include former Spice Girl, Melanie C, Louise, Joe McElderry and Ibiza in Symphony.
A large-scale community village will also include a family and well-being zone, sports zone and the Curious Arts stage.
Alongside the full programme of entertainment, Northern Pride – which also doubles up as UK Pride 2022 this time round – will also be promoting the theme of Remember, Resist, Rise Up throughout the weekend.
This year organisers have also ensured the event – which has Barclays as its headline sponsor – is also drawing heavily on the regional community and has engaged with musicians, artists and creatives.
For further details visit www.northern-pride.com
