Portsmouth Pride in-person event cancelled as it goes online for second year running

In a video uploaded to social media, chairwoman Tally Aslam announced that the event will be held online, with performances to be broadcast on the Portsmouth Pride YouTube channel.

Concerns over funding and potential restrictions placed on larger events by the government were the main reasons for the in-person event’s cancellation, according to Tally.

She said: ‘Now I know there will be a lot of people who will be wondering why don’t we just hold it later in the year. There are a couple of reasons for this.

‘We’re still not entirely sure what the government’s restrictions are going to look like for bigger events.

‘If we were to postpone it to later in the year there is the potential that it may need to be ticketed in order for us to keep track of capacity, and we may need a larger area.

‘We are vehemently against fencing our event and vehemently against ticketing our event.

‘The other reason is money. If we were to push it back to later in the year, there’s still a big gap that needs to be filled either by fundraising or finding new sponsors.’

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But the group remains committed to putting on a free event that provides paid work for the city’s entertainers, Tally said.

She added: ‘We want to ensure that pride happens in Portsmouth . We also want the opportunity to provide paid work for entertainers who have been severely impacted by the coronavirus.’

It marks the second year that the mass gathering to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community has been cancelled.

Last year saw the event being replaced with a digital broadcast due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s broadcast is due to take place on Saturday, June 12, with further details about the events line-up to be confirmed.

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