Council staff beam with pride in the lead up to this weekend’s celebrations

Now in its 18th year, Leeds Pride takes place this Sunday (6 August) and is the largest free Pride in the UK, with over 50,000 attending every year.

The city centre will once again transform for a jam-packed day, celebrating the city’s LGBT+ community, in a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere of fun and colour.

Leeds City Council is committed to making the event open for everyone, which is why the council is once again providing two accessible buses to join the parade, assisting disabled people to get a flawless view of the colourful extravaganza.

There will also be an accessible platform provided by the council at Millennium Square to watch the pre parade party and Leeds Pride are once again providing an access platform down on Lower Briggate for the post parade party.

The Civic Hall and Town Hall will be proudly displaying the Pride flag over the weekend and the Town Hall will also be flying the Bi and Trans flags.

Visitors to the city will also get to see the Civic Hall lit up in the colours of the rainbow and might spot many of the council’s city centre cleansing staff wearing pride themed hi vis jackets and the waste and street cleansing vehicles decked out in LGBT+ Inclusive Leeds designs as they support the parade.

On Saturday, Leeds City Council are also hosting a marketplace event in Brodrick Hall, Leeds City Museum, from 11am-4pm where people can go along and find out about LGBT+ services, support and social groups in Leeds. More details here.

Councillor Mary Harland, executive member for communities said, “Leeds Pride is one of the real highlights in our city’s events calendar, a fantastic occasion to welcome people from across Leeds, Yorkshire and the rest of the country into the city to come together and celebrate our vibrant and resilient LGBT+ but also to highlight the discrimination that many LGBT+ people still face in our society.

“We are incredibly proud as a city to be hosting our 18^th Leeds Pride and cannot wait for the festivities to begin.”

For more information about Leeds Pride: https://www.leedspride.com

Accessibility information

There will be a raised access platform in Millennium Square (also known as Accessible Viewing Area (AVA)) which is reserved for disabled people and their carers. Next to the AVA there are changing facilities, toilets as well as wheelchair accessible toilets. There are also accessible toilets in the permanent toilet provision under Millennium Square.

There will also be two accessible buses parked on Great George Street. One of which will depart earlier to take people to the event spaces on Lower Briggate. This allows those passengers to get a position on the AVA on Lower Briggate. The second bus will travel as part of the parade.

Stewards will be available on the day to assist disabled people to find the AVA and toilets in both areas.

To find out more, please visit https://www.leedspride.com/accessibility-1