Town to host Pride event year on from flag row
BBCA town in Derbyshire where a rainbow flag was removed following a complaint from a Christian bookshop is hosting its first Pride event.
The row in Matlock in June 2025 received national media interest after a flag was relocated from outside Cornerstone Christian Bookshop in Dale Road.
Matlock Town Council said it had received communication the rainbow flag could be "forcibly removed" so action was taken to move it to another central location to avoid confrontation or damage.
Matlock's mayor Ashley Orwin helped to organise Pride in the Peaks, which will take place on Saturday and said the event was about inclusivity and accepting people.
In 2025, the council said the decision to move the flag was "purely from a health and safety standpoint" and it stood in "full support of the LGBTQIA+ community".
In a statement, the trustees of the bookshop said they were happy to fly flags but declined to fly the Pride flag as a "matter of conscience and in keeping with our faith and scriptures".
Orwin has helped to organise the Pride event during his mayoral year.
"In more rural places like Matlock we have under-representation of people that are different so it's very important to show that even in places like this," he said.
"I was bullied horrifically at school and if only one person who lives in a rural place like this can see that something good can come from what we're offering then our job is done".
The free event will be held in Hall Leys Park from 13:00 to 21:00 BST and includes craft stalls and food vendors.
A main stage will feature a range of musical acts from 13:30 onwards, with the final act Emma Clayton due to start at 20:05.
Elsewhere at the event, a day-long DJ set will take place at The Bandstand.
Many businesses in Matlock have thrown their support behind the inaugural Pride celebration.
Katie Abey, who runs Punnydukes, a gift shop in Dale Road said seeing the rainbow flags on display in the town centre provided a real boost.
"We will be encouraging families to use brightly coloured chalk to decorate the cobblestones outside our shop this weekend and I feel it's amazing to have a Pride event in Matlock," she said.
"The small town Prides have got more of a community spirit and they've got that sort of grassroots small business feel and I think it's really going to have that here in Matlock."
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