Matt shares this latest news from Isle of Wight Pride. Ed
Exciting news was announced at the Launch of the IWPride 2017 exhibition at Dimbola Museum and Galleries today (Friday).
Whilst celebrating the launch of the exhibition and congratulating the Capture your Pride Winners, Roo Meechan, Ria Langdon, Sarah Marston and Zach Capron, TeamPride made an extra special announcement regarding 2018!
Pride returns in 2018
TeamPride were delighted to announce that Pride will be back on the Island and will coincide with the weekend of the Ryde Slide. Saturday 21st July will be the date to be in Ryde to relive the special atmosphere of 2017 as IWPride look to grow and make 2018 bigger and better.
With plans to increase the size of the arena, improve on the market stall and information stand zone and also maximise the opportunity for people to get involved and attend Pride, there will be much excitement in the build up to 2018. Pride organisers are already planning events for the Friday evening to compliment the main day.
Huge success
Building on the success of 2017, Yve White from TeamPride, said,
“We were astounded by how successful Pride was in our first year. Pride2017 touched many lives, from people who had left the Island due to Homophobia, returning to a welcoming environment and being reduced to tears, through to courage and love enabling people to have the confidence to “come out” and be their true selves and live their lives.
“We have had fantastic feedback from around the Country and want to grow our family-friendly, inclusive and free community event in 2018 and have spent most of the summer putting the building blocks in place to help make this happen!”
Join our team of volunteers
Matt Bundy of TeamPride said,
“One of the main learning points from the success of 2017 was to get more volunteers involved. This has helped us to grow TeamPride and we are always open to other people joining us in organising this fabulous event. There may be more exciting news in late October, but we won’t be releasing those details at this stage.
“There is a great buzz around Pride since the amazing day in July when the Island community came together and created something special. We want to recapture that atmosphere and grow it.
“We hope through the Pride Exhibition at Dimbola Museum and Galleries that the Island community get the chance to relive happy memories and also to give people the motivation to get involved in 2018.”
Pride at Dimbola
The Pride exhibition at Dimbola runs until 11th October and showcases a number of photographs from the Capture your Pride competition which caught the imagination of a number of budding photographers.
Dr Rachel Tait of Dimbola said,
“We had hundreds of amazing entries to the competition. Its great to see so many people capturing happy memories of a special event and we are privileged to be able to showcase these at Dimbola throughout September.”
Another weekend to remember
Joe from TeamPride said,
“It’s amazing to be planning for Pride2018 already. So many people are already supportive and on board. We were keen to avoid clashing with Rhythmtree Festival on the Island again and are glad to be joining forces with the Ryde Slide!
“It should be another weekend to remember for the Island!”
To stay up to date with what’s happening, check out the Isle of Wight Pride Website or Like and follow their Facebook Page.
