Coventry Pride: Festival will not be held in 2023

Coventry Pride will not take place this year, organisers say.

The board said it has assessed finances and resources and what the community wanted and hoped that it would be able to return in 2024.

The event was last held in 2021 in Festival Gardens with celebrations held at the city's Yard bar in 2022.

At a public meeting last month, LGBT members said they wanted "year round" events and which would be looked at chairperson, Kirsty Mabbott said.

Building connections and relationships was now crucial as the organisation relied so much volunteers, they said.

"We looked at the funds we currently hold. We looked at the capability and timeframe and we listened to the public meeting as to what it was people were really desperate for in the community," Kirsty said.

"What they're really desperate for is for there to be more social interaction, more activities, more things that aren't just about going out to Yard and Glamourous... but not everybody wants to be going out into a situation where there is alcohol... what people really want is connection with everyone."

They said it was now crucial for the board - made up of entirely new members since spring - to connect and listen to the community to ensure a Pride festival happened in 2024.

"Eight board members on their own do not make a Pride festival happen," they added.

In a statement confirming the festival would not go ahead, the organisation added: "At this stage, which we know will be disappointing to some of you, we will not be hosting a Pride festival in 2023 - but instead are looking at a number of different activities that we can run throughout the year to give our LGBTQIA+ community both visibility and safe space beyond a single day or weekend.

"We anticipate the Pride festival will make a return in 2024, when Pride the charity has sufficient funding and resources to do so."

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