The historic market town of Totnes in Devon is set to host the seventh Totnes Pride on Saturday 7th September 2019.
Social enterprise Proud2Be is laying on a whole host of activities, which will bring the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and/or questioning+) community together with their allies, to celebrate diversity in the town.
This year’s theme is ‘Your Time to Sparkle’which has been chosen by young people who regularly attend the Proud2Be youth group.
In a recently published set of videos where young people spoke about what the theme means to them, Charlie said:
“Your Time to Sparkle is such a great theme, to me it’s all about celebrating us as individuals and as a community and saying that there is something amazing about everyone, especially at the moment when there’s so much in the media attacking LGBT people, having this theme as a celebration in defiance to that is fantastic.”
The day kicks off at 10.45am outside The Dartmouth Inn with a special debut performance from Proud2Be Youth Choir and opening speeches by Proud2Be youth members. The award-winning Samba ROC Band, will then lead a procession up Fore Street and High Street to Totnes Civic Hall at 11.30am. The road closure will be in place between 10.30am – 1pm at Ticklemore Street and from the bottom of Fore Street up to where the High Street meets Castle Street.
Community bus service Bob the Bus will be running a park and ride service from 10am at King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC) and will also be transporting wheelchair users and those with mobility issues up the procession at 11.15.
It is at the Civic Hall, Birdwood House Café and The Red Wizard Café from midday, where visitors can enjoy workshops, talks, live music, community stalls, Dot’s Cafe, a youth space and a variety of family-friendly activities including art and craft, face painting and much more.
This year, for the first time, there will be a ‘Pride Garden’ at Heath’s Garden behind the Civic Hall where visitors of all ages can take part in outdoor games and children can enjoy ‘Drag Storytime’.
There will be a panel discussion from 3:00pm at Totnes Cinema, where local young activists will discuss the theme: ‘Where Is Our Sex Education?’.
There will be a pop-up changing places facility, gender neutral toilets, a quiet room and 2 British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters available throughout the day.
The fun continues into the evening at Totnes Pride Cabaret from 7.00pm at Totnes Civic Hall, which will be hosted by the fabulous Rhi Rhi Rhythm & Alex Ambiguous and feature an unmissable performance from Marilyn Mournroe and live music from popular Disco Funk band Golddust and internationally renowned tribute act Maybe Gaga.
Due to successful continuation funding from People’s Health Trust using money raised by Health Lottery South West, entry to all daytime events are free. Tickets to the Cabaret are £10 in advance and £12 on the door (16 and over).
To mark the event Totnes Town Council will once again, raise the rainbow flag over Totnes Civic Hall on Wednesday 4thSeptember at 6.30pm which will include a performance by members of popular Totnes Choir Global Harmony.
Inspired by their experiences of bullying, discrimination and shame- identical twins Max and Maya Price set up Proud2Be in 2011 when they recorded the first Proud2Be video. Since then various public figures and members of the public have contributed to the campaign.
As well as campaigning and hosting Totnes Pride, Proud2Be facilitates well attended and inclusive peer support groups and a youth project, which now includes a fortnightly youth group, a peer mentoring project, a 1:1 mentoring service and a new families support group.
Proud2Be deliver awareness training to schools and organisations around the UK.
About this year’s event, Proud2Be co-founder Max said:
“For the past year, the Pride Action Group have been working tirelessly alongside Proud2Be youth members to ensure that Totnes Pride continues to be an inclusive and thoughtful event that we can all be proud of. For us, Pride is both a celebration and a protest and we invite everyone to come and join us for the seventh Pride in the town.”
Proud2Be are looking for volunteers to help out on the day. If you would like to get involved, please email: [email protected]
To find out more about Totnes Pride or to buy a Cabaret ticket, please visit: totnespride.co.uk or email: [email protected]