THERE was a lot of Pride in Trafford at the weekend when an online micro-festival to celebrate LGBTQ+ life ran.

The festival was produced by the Pride in Trafford team, a collaboration between Waterside Arts, the Mayor of Trafford and Trafford Council.

Seven events and six new digital commissions ran over the festival, attracting audiences of over 8000 online.

Events included story time sessions for children read by Manchester drag family The Family Gorgeous; Vogue classes for both adults and families with Darren Pritchard of the infamous House of Ghetto, Romy & Michele’s Saturday Afternoon Tea Party live from New York with artist and DJ Bright Light Bright Light; Queer Artist Talking Circle with provocations from Manchester theatre-makers Art with Heart and mandla rae; and six new digital commissions by emerging queer poet Louis Glazzard.

All events were free, but audiences made donations to support the ‘Pay it Forward’ campaign, to provide tickets to NHS key workers and their families, many of whom have sacrificed quality family time during the Covid-19 crisis.

All of the events were broadcast via Waterside Arts’ social media platforms and at prideintrafford.org/broadcast - where audiences can still view them.

Speaking about the activity, Venue Manager at Waterside, Darren Adams said: “Prides across the world celebrate by bringing together people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum and that simply wasn’t an option for us this year.

“We set out to curate a micro-festival with all ages in mind, with story time events and a Vogue class for families playing an integral part. Predominantly, we wanted our events to bring people together through shared experiences, as Pride events have done for many years.

“The thousands that joined us online far surpassed all of our exceptions.

“Our thanks to the artists, the audiences, our partners and to everyone who donated to our ‘Pay it Forward’ campaign.”

All events were free but it was an opportunity for audiences to contribute to Waterside’s Pay It Forward campaign, where any online donations made for select Pride Inside shows goes towards paying for future theatre tickets - once Waterside reopens - for NHS workers and their families, many of whom have had to sacrifice quality family time during the Covid-19 crisis.

Pride in Trafford 2021 is scheduled to return from May 17 to 22 May 2021. Further updates at prideintrafford.org.

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