Thurrock’s first ever Pride event – a celebration of inclusivity with a powerful statement of visibility – will take place on Saturday, 8 June starting at 9.30am with a Pride Celebration Walk commencing at Purfleet Station, joined by the wider community to walk along the river front and Gray’s High Street.
Events will take place throughout the day, ending with the Great Big Queer Cabaret at Thameside Theatre. Thurrock-born comedian and singer Jordan Gray will officially open the day and drag artist Sirena Hart will also be taking part. Thurrock Pride has also announced that local talent Ella Vaday, star of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, will be hosting Queer Cabaret.
Events include live music, comedy, film, art workshops and drag performances. At the start of the day walkers will be holding vibrant, bespoke silk flags created by Purfleet-based, arts organisation and event partner, Kinetika, alongside members of the LGBTQ+ community. The walk will be led by event partner, T100 Festival – Thurrock’s Walking, Talking and Making Festival.
The Festival is also working with Essex Book Festival to include LGBTQ+ stories in the Human Library event at Grays Library on the same day. Co-created by festival directors Arts Outburst, Thurrock Pride Festival 2024 is the first of its kind locally and a historic moment for LGBTQ+ and wider communities of Essex. They wish to welcome the local people of Thurrock and people across the Southeast of England to join in, celebrate and be part of acceptance and equality at the event.
Daryl Branch, Artistic Director and CEO of Arts Outburst, said: “Arts Outburst are super proud to be delivering this historical moment in Thurrock. We believe that representation and equity are hugely important and play a massive part of the work we do. To be taking the lead of Thurrock Pride, using arts and culture to shape and tell that story, is very exciting for us and we can’t wait to welcome everyone to the Thameside.”
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