The festival had to go virtual last year as a result of the pandemic.
Ever a highlight of Birmingham’s summer plans, the huge Birmingham Pride Festival had to go virtual last year, owing to public health concerns over holding the event in the midst of a pandemic. However, with the vaccination total rising daily and reaching the last stage of the roadmap out of lockdown, things are looking rosier for the Pride 2021 celebrations – and now, Birmingham Pride has announced the line-up for this year’s festivities, with the city’s biggest LGBTQ+ celebration taking place over the weekend of September 25 & 26.
Step 4 of easing restrictions allows large-scale events to take place, and with the 2019 event drawing thousands of people, it’s at the very top end of “large-scale”. Since this step won’t begin until June 21 at the earliest, moving the Birmingham Pride celebrations from its usual timeframe in May gives them more scope to deliver the joyful festivities we’re accustomed to.
This year’s event will see four performance spaces- main stage, cabaret stage, future stage and dance area- all of which are hosting a range of acts on both the Saturday and Sunday. Big names include Cheryl, Katy B, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Baga Chipz on the main stage on September 25.
Birmingham Pride also recently confirmed performances for September 26 which include Sister Sledge with Clean Bandit DJ set, RAYE and Ru Paul Drag Race stars, Miss Peppermint and Bimini Bon Boulash. The plans for 2021’s festival are, of course, subject to England’s roadmap out of lockdown, however, should all go to plan – we can look forward to dancing the weekend away in the Gay Village while the sun shines down on a rainbow-laden Birmingham.
Tickets have already been released and you can find the full line-up on Birmingham Pride’s website and social media pages. Previous years have seen the likes of Years & Years, Sigala, Mabel, Lady Leshurr and Kate Nash perform at Birmingham Pride Festival.