Coronavirus: Portsmouth Pride cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns

Portsmouth Pride was due to take place on on Saturday, June 20 on Castle Field in Southsea.

This year’s event was to have a theme celebrating the armed forces, marking the 20th anniversary of gay and lesbian people being able to openly serve in the UK’s military.

But the event has now been cancelled due to ongoing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic posed a ‘significant financial risk’ to the organising body, the Portsmouth Pride Trust, according to a statement from its trustees.

The statement said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that the trustees of Portsmouth Pride have made the very difficult decision to postpone Portsmouth Pride main day event and parade that were due to take place on Saturday, June 20 until next year.

‘We are already in talks with confirmed sponsors and acts to enable us to be back in 2021 even bigger and more awesome.’

Celebrations were due to include a host of acts including live music and, cabaret and drag queen performances.

In 2019, the Pride event drew crowds of nearly 7,000 people – the highest attendance of the event so far.

The event has a range of sponsors, including Portsmouth City Council, BAE Systems, and Southern Co-op.

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