Cambridge Pride: Join the parade – and the party – this weekend

In the space of just six years, Cambridge Pride has become a vital event for both the LGBTA+ community and its allies. As Rob Ferguson, trustee of organising charity The Pink Festival, tells Alice Ryan, Pride is far more than a party - it’s powerful

Sense of support
The expression ‘Pride is a protest’ has never been more true than this year. The UK has dropped to a new low in the European LGBTQ+ rights rankings, to 22nd place. We topped that list a decade ago, but things like conversion therapy still remain legal in this country, and the recent Supreme Court ruling has left trans and non-binary people living in limbo. It’s incredibly important for the Queer community to be able to come together in a safe space that’s not only filled with joy, but also filled with solidarity.

The beginning
The Pink Festival, the charity behind Cambridge Pride, has been running for a good two decades or so and used to run a similar style of event over at Cherry Hinton Hall. Around 2018, when there was first talk of having an official Pride event for Cambridge, The Pink Festival was approached. We formed a bigger group and 2019 saw the first Cambridge Pride. It featured the first ever UK Pride river parade, with people dressed as everything from peacocks to dragons coming down the Cam. . . It was amazing.

The evolution
Then, of course, lockdown happened and we had two years when we couldn’t run anything. But we came back all-singing, all-dancing in 2022, and the event has gone from strength to strength since then. We had about 5,000 people in 2019; the last two years, we’ve been talking 12,000. This year’s parade will start at noon from the tennis courts on Jesus Green and follow a loop through town, taking in the Colleges, the Market Place and then arriving back at the Green at 1pm for the main event. Thanks to the County Council Highways and the team at Phoenix Events East, this will be our second parade through the streets of Cambridge.

Community spirit
We always have three main areas. There’s the community tent, which is where we educate, raise awareness and provide access to services; this year, for example, we’ve got Diamonds, a trans and non-binary support group, and Kite Trust, specifically for LGBTQ+ young people. There’s also a smaller stage in there, which hosts things like talks and performance poetry. And, back by popular demand, we also have a dog show, which is basically a chance for people to show off their pooches, usually wearing little hats. . . We also have a wellbeing area, where you can have a neck massage and do disco yoga, a huge traders market, a funfair, street food vans - there’s lots going on.

Turning the party
The dance tent is always packed! Having music play seems to bring people together in such a unique way; it doesn’t matter your gender or sexuality, you just want to dance. We’ve got loads of DJs in there, playing everything from mainstream pop and disco to dance anthems and techno. As well as being a trustee of the charity, I do the main stage planning, so on the day I’m running around telling people they’re on or off in five minutes. . . We’ve got a great and really diverse lineup, with acts ranging from Colonel Spanky’s Love Ensemble, the brass and funk band, to a Queer EMO Punk outfit called Wisdom Tooth Removal.

Open to all
Lots of Prides have started to charge this year. The costs of everything we need, from insurance to staging, has gone up, plus funding is going down as companies find trading tougher and tougher and have less sponsorship to give. With that in mind, I’d like to thank everyone who has helped keep Cambridge Pride a free-to-attend community event again this year; those who have donated their time, energy and money, including our headline sponsor Anglia Ruskin University, and Glitterbeam Radio who will be broadcasting the whole day live.

Sharing the love
I’m a white cis gay man. There are times when I’ve faced prejudice in my life, yes, but I can hold my husband’s hand in a bar and not feel overly scared that someone’s going to come up and punch me. But there are people out there, especially trans and non-binary people, who are facing prejudice just because they want to be able to use a bathroom. Yes, we want Pride to be a fun, joyful and uplifting day, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that a lot of people in our community are scared and feel betrayed. Pride is really a chance for us to all come together; to say ‘We’re here for you and you are loved’.

Cambridge Pride takes place on June 14, noon onwards. For a full list of Pride events, which are running throughout June, see linktr.ee/cambridgepride