Harrogate Pride in Diversity has been cancelled again, with the organisers once more citing a lack of volunteers.
The event, which started with a parade through town followed by live music and entertainment in Valley Gardens, drew crowds of up to 26,000.
But it has not been held since 2019, and the latest cancellation after covid has led to an attempt to set-up a new event over the August bank holiday.
Harrogate Pride in Diversity posted on its Facebook page:
“We are so proud of all we have done together in the last few years, but recently life has gotten in the way. Our committee has become smaller, and our lives have become busier.
“We are taking a break from Pride in Diversity. Not forever, but for a little while.
“There will be no Pride in Diversity event this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be back.”
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The news prompted Craig Joynson and his wife Rea to start planning a free August event with a view to growing the LGBTQIA+ scene in Harrogate. They have set up their own Harrogate Pride Events Facebook page.
The event in 2019 in Valley Gardens
Mr Joynson said the local LGBTQIA+ community was currently under-served, adding:
“I am looking to provide some form of not-for-profit Pride event over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Not a full on Pride parade — hopefully that’ll be next year — but a social event of some kind.”
Mr Joynson, a former DJ, added he had a venue and DJs lined up and he hoped it could lead to regular monthly events for LGBTQIA+ people and perhaps the return of a Pride march next year.
