Blackpool Pride confirms its 20th anniversary line-up

Blackpool Pride is twenty this year, and the festival is going big to mark it. The full plans landed in mid-May: three days on the Tower Festival Headland from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 June, plus a two-day street party in the Rainbow Quarter.

Heather Small tops the bill, with 911 celebrating their own 30th anniversary. There is a lovely full-circle moment too: The Cheeky Girls, who headlined the very first Blackpool Pride twenty years ago, are coming back.

The theme, picked by the community, is "One Love, One Pride".

The key bits

• Festival: Friday 5 to Sunday 7 June, Tower Festival Headland on the Promenade.
• Parade: Saturday 6 June from 11am along the Promenade. Expect road closures and diversions that morning.
• Street party: more than 20 Rainbow Quarter businesses are running a community party on Saturday and Sunday, with afternoon music on Lord Street and local performers in the evenings.

Council leader Lynn Williams and Pride chair Sara Cheston both backed the anniversary as a celebration of diversity and inclusion, with three packed days of entertainment.

Full details are on blackpoolpride.org.