Pride event to charge for entry for first time

A Pride event will charge for tickets for the first time amid financial pressures but has vowed to "never exclude anyone".

Tickets for the 20th edition of the Pride in Gloucestershire event in Gloucester Park on 12 September will cost between £8 and £10 for adults.

Richard Stevens, who chairs the organisation, said it had made the "tough decision" to charge entry due to rising costs and dwindling funding from grants and corporate sponsorship.

The main headliner was announced on Tuesday as Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud, who will be joined by acts across three stages, including the Cheeky Girls and Ru Paul's Drag Race stars.

The march through Gloucester city centre will start at the cathedral at 11:00 BST, with the ticketed event in the park running from 12:00 to 20:30.

The musical acts will also feature the likes of actress Cheryl Ferguson, who played Heather Trott in Eastenders, and 2016 X Factor champion Matt Terry.

Standard advance tickets are £8 for adults and £5 for under-16s, while adult tickets on the day will cost £10.

There is also a 'true cost supporter ticket' available for £42.50, which is intended to show how much it costs to put on the event.

Last year, the festival asked the public for donations due to a £25,000 shortfall in its budget.

Stevens said they wanted to do "something special" will bigger acts this year to mark the 20th anniversary, along with a community voices village to encourage a range of people to share their stories.

But he said the funding environment has been "very tough" for years because of "greater competition for a reduced amount of grant funding" and "a reduced appetite from corporate sponsorship".

Attempts to cut costs in recent years were not enough to keep the event free, he said, adding a lot of Pride organisations were facing the same dilemma.

The event is also running a pay it forward scheme to help those who would struggle to pay full price, Stevens said.

"There have been tough decisions to make but what we've done is try to mitigate the impacts it might have on those in our community particularly in need because we will never exclude anyone from Pride."

This year, Pride in Gloucestershire also organised a free event in Cheltenham, but its Forest of Dean event was cancelled.

Bigger Pride events charge more for tickets - for example a general admission price for Bristol Pride earlier this month was £18.50.

But smaller events like Stroud Pride have been able to remain free.

Michael Jones, secretary of Stroud Pride, said: "Pride events are facing increasing difficulty securing funding.

"We've had to shift our financial focus on how to lower the cost going forward."

This year, they bought their own marquees, did in-house security and restricted the line-up to local acts in order to keep it free.

"I fully understand why they're deciding to charge," he said of Pride in Gloucestershire, adding it was more difficult for bigger events to keep costs down.

Stroud Pride is also trying to share resources with other local events, including Dursley Pride which was cancelled this year to due funding issues.

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