Callum shares this latest news from Isle of Wight Pride HQ. Ed
Organisers of Isle of Wight Pride 2019 have confirmed details for this year’s event on Saturday 20 July.
The day will start with a colourful parade from Queens Road, Ryde, at midday.
No main arena
On the seafront, the parade will finish at Eastern Gardens, where local charities, traders and community groups will form a market area until 6pm.
Entertainment and music will be provided by the Superbowl until 8pm, and 1Leisure will offer activities by the Harbour during the afternoon.
During the afternoon and evening entertainment will be available at a number of venues in Union Street.
The reason for the changes
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight Pride said
“Since announcing a fallow year, and responding to the wish of the community that Isle of Wight Pride should still happen in 2019, it has been a challenge financially and with resources to secure activities for this year.
“Thanks to the generosity from a handful of key sponsors, local venues support and guidance from the all of the relevant authorities and agencies; it was decided to withdraw the plan of the arena at Eastern Gardens due to the limited number of tickets and concerns over crowds and safety.
“Instead, we are working closely with Ryde Superbowl where they will be having entertainment inside the venue throughout the afternoon and into early evening and will be serving drinks from their front bar with music .”
Benefitting local business
IW Pride are also working with venues in Union Street who will be hosting Pride related entertainment throughout the afternoon (Kasbah, Bar74 and Coburgs).
A spokesperson continued,
“We feel that this demonstrates our strong wish to bring benefit from the
event to local businesses, and improve accessibility for the local community, as we seek to put Isle of Wight Pride onto a long term sustainable footing.“IW Pride would like to than a number of local companies who have supported the charity on its journey and for the event; Hovertravel, Innerspace (Cowes), Unison, Ryde Town Council, Red Funnel
and Visit Isle of Wight.“Also the many individuals and volunteers who have worked behind the scenes to ensure an event takes place this year, and in the future.”
