Pride Finishes with Record Numbers at Foyle and Newry!

The Pride Season in Northern Ireland finished with the Foyle Pride Parade on August 25th and Pride in Newry on September 1st. Cara-Friend attended both, taking part in both parades with record numbers of LGBTQI+ young people, along with other organisations and sector partners.

Foyle Pride was celebrating its 25th anniversary, the first Pride having been celebrated in Derry-Londonderry in 1993. This year’s parade followed the original route of the 1968 civil rights march (as this is the 50th anniversary year) in order to frame the LGBTQI+ outstanding rights issues in the context of the NI civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. LGBTQI+ young people from Cara-Friend LGBTQI+ Youth, OUT North West, GenderJam, Youth Action, and the Education Authority all marched together in a huge LGBTQI+ youth bloc which led out the parade, behind the bloc of civil rights campaigners from both the original 1968 march and the 1993 first Pride. Foyle Pride 2018 was certainly a week to remember!

The Pride season was finished off in style with the usual show of colour and joy in Newry. The Parade took place on September 1st and Cara-Friend marched alongside sector partners from The Rainbow Project and Here NI. Members of Cara-Friend LGBTQI+ Youth Newry were also present!

After a successful Pride season in Belfast, Derry-Londonderry and Newry – as well as smaller civic events in Craigavon and Coleraine for the first time – we are prouder than ever! We look forward to seeing everyone next year for what promises to be even bigger and better!