Pride to go 'back to roots' after new home search

Birmingham Pride said it is "working with the community" to secure the future of the LGBT+ festival after efforts to find a permanent home failed.

Director Lawrence Barton said the festival, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year to the city, would be "returning to its roots" as a smaller, more community-focused event in 2026.

This year is the last that Pride can use the Smithfield regeneration site for its ticketed music festival, which attracts up to 20,000 people per day and begins on Saturday.

From next year, the site won't be available as it gears up for redevelopment.

Birmingham City Council said it had been in regular contact with organisers and would continue to work with them to help secure its future.

Earlier this month, King Charles' property company, the Crown Estate, struck a deal with Australian firm Lendlease to back the £1.8bn Smithfield redevelopment.

Mr Barton said efforts to find a replacement site had proved difficult.

"We explored a number of potential locations for a permanent home for Birmingham Pride's arena, including extensive talks with Birmingham City Council," he said.

"They were unable to suggest a viable alternative that met the festival's requirements for scale, accessibility and long-term sustainability."

The entrepreneur, who runs LGBT+ venues The Village Inn and The Nightingale Club in the city, added: "We will be working closely with the community on a number of transformational initiatives that will shape the next chapter of Birmingham Pride.

"It's not about scaling back, it's about returning to our roots and putting community impact at the heart of everything we do."

The authority said Smithfield had been a great site for Pride and recognised the important role it had played in the festival's growth.

It said this year's event was meaningful, as it was the final event at the site before the next phase of transformation began.

At every stage, the development is being shaped to be welcoming and inclusive, reflecting the energy, creativity and diversity of Birmingham's communities—including the spirit of Pride itself.

"We're proud to have played a small part in hosting Birmingham Pride over the years, and we'll continue to work closely with the organisers and the wider community as Smithfield evolves."

Birmingham Pride began in 1997 as a free community event but in recent years has grown into one of the city's largest festivals, with a ticketed music programme and a free parade.

This year, some political parties were banned from marching over what organisers said were "growing concerns about the role political parties have played in fuelling a climate of hostility towards trans individuals".

Organisers of the annual LGBT+ festival added Labour, the only party booked to march at the parade on Saturday, were told they cannot do so.

Labour said it would "continue to protect the trans community", adding laws to protect trans people remained.

Judges in the UK's top court concluded in April a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

Eva Echo, Birmingham Pride's director of innovation, said: "The trans+ community is still ignored by politicians at local and national level.

"For too long we've been talked over, used for political gain and forced to watch as our rights are stripped away, and our existence twisted beyond recognition."