Pride In London 2014: A Guide To What’s On

Summer’s in the air and London’s looking lovely in the sun, we’re racing to the end of June and so what’s coming up around the corner? Only London’s official Gay Pride festivities 2014! Here at QX we take a look at what’s in store this year to make your Pride one of the best ever… Celebrate, smile, dance in the streets, remember who fought for you before and enjoy your freedom! 

THE PARADE

The Parade is one of the biggest features of any city’s Pride festivities and London’s is vast, feathered and full of camp. Thousands of people line the route, and participants include community organisations, campaigners, charities, universities, health agencies, companies and many other groups. From sexy boys in Speedos to drag queens in glitter to flamboyant floats, the procession is a carnival-esque elevation of all things gay.

It leaves Baker Street at 1pm, travelling east along Oxford Street to Oxford Circus, down Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus, down Lower Regent Street, along Pall Mall and Cockspur Street, through Trafalgar Square and into Whitehall where it ends at around 4pm.

Almost two hundred groups, totalling more than 20,000 people from diverse parts of the LGBT+ community are already taking part in this year’s Pride in London Parade.

SOHO 

As if you didn’t know Soho’s gay bars like the back of your hand already, here’s a list of the venues taking part in the Pride festivities this year. Plus, there’ll be dancing in the streets!

• Ku Bar, 30 Lisle Street, WC2H 7BA
• Manbar, 79 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0NE
• Ku Soho, 25 Frith Street, WC1D 5LB
• G-A-Y Bar, 30 Old Compton Street, W1D 4UR
• Admiral Duncan, 54 Old Compton Street, W1D 4UB
• Comptons, 51-53 Old Compton Street, W1D 6HN
• Rupert Street, 50 Rupert Street, W1D 7PL
• The Yard, 57 Rupert Street, W1D 7PL
• Freedom Bar, 60-66 Wardour Street, W1F 0TA
• Circa, 62 Frith Street, W1D 3JN

PARTY FESTIVITIES & ARTS ON THE 28TH

• 5.30pm: The Queer Alternative presents ‘Monochrome’
  An alternative post-Pride party featuring DJs SahraSin, Scott and AndyRavenSable.
  Central Station, 37 Wharfdale Road, King’s Cross, N1 9SD
  
• 7pm: Transpose Rage & Pride Edition
  Transpose returns to London Pride for a night of music, poetry, activism, love and creative rage.
  Hackney Attic, 270 Mare Street, E8 1HE
  
• 7pm: Irreverent Dance Pride Afterparty
  Everyone is invited to attend this post-pride party with awesome DJs from some of London’s best feminist queer & trans positive club nights.
  The Resistance Gallery, Poyser Street, E2 9RF
  
• 7.45pm: Transforming Stories
  A triple bill of three new queer commissions, presented in-development, with Lucy Hutson, Café Salomé and ARtFUnSHACK.
  Ovalhouse, 52 Kennington Oval, SE11 5SW
  
• 8pm: Bar Wotever Pride Special
  A special edition of Bar Wotever, as they do it at the RVT on a Saturday night, hosted by Mzz Kimberley.
  The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, 372 Kennington Lane, SE11 5HY
  
• 9pm: The Trendy Discotheque
  It’s Pride night and you want to get drunk and dance to Scandinavian pop with the Push the Button DJs!
  The Black Cap, 171 Camden High Street, NW1 7JY
  
• 9pm: Gay Shame & Lesbian Weakness
  Duckie present their annual festival of homosexual misery on Gay Pride night at the legendary danceteria formerly known as The Fridge. Welcome to the Pleasuredome: a rainbow flag version of North Korea. A compulsory celebration for the post-queer precariat.
  Electric Brixton, Town Hall Parade, SW2 1RJ
• 11pm-4am: DARCY OAKE @ G-A-Y
  Britain’s Got Talent finalist Darcy Oake is at, arguably, the world’s most famous gay club.
  Heaven, under the Arches, Villiers Street, Charing Cross, WC2N 6NG