Kendal Pride will bring a splash of colour to the auld grey town once again this summer
The now annual event – billed as ‘pride done differently’ – will take over the Cumbrian town for its second year from Friday June 13 to Sunday 15, offering a host of activities for people of all ages.
Key elements of the festival including the Pride Village at Abbot Hall and the Big Pride Party at Bowness Bay Brewery, will both return for 2025, and organisers have already secured grants from Kendal Business Improvement District and Kendal Town Council.
Jamie Hooper, chair of the organising group, said: “We’re really looking forward to bringing Kendal Pride back for 2025 and doing pride differently, exploring the outdoors and enjoying the arts.
“As ever we’ll be putting on a whole host of free activities for people of all ages and identities and we hope Kendal will come out and show its support as it has for the past two years.
“The last two years have been extremely wet – which is very on-brand for Cumbria – but this year we’ve ordered sunshine.”
The Pride Village will take place at Abbot Hall on Saturday 14 from 12 noon to 6pm and will feature a range of stalls, entertainment, and family activities from Ragtag Arts.
Free walks, cycles, runs and open water swims will also go ahead across the whole weekend.
The ‘Big Pride Party’ will also return to Bowness Brewery and The Barrel House on Saturday evening, with an opportunity for festival-goers to dance the night away and a line-up of performers still to be announced.
On Friday evening there will be films with an LGBTQIA+ outdoor theme in association with Kendal Mountain Festival with tickets set to go on sale soon.
As well as the funding received so far, Kendal Pride is being made possible with the support of sponsors the Westmorland Family, Herdy, Douglass Grange accountants, TryBooking and Klean Kanteen.
Tickets for Kendal Pride’s Big Pride Party are on sale now priced at £20 per person, with more details about the free elements of the programme to be released soon.
