ORGANISERS of the annual Belfast Pride are expecting the city's biggest parade on Saturday.
The Belfast Pride Parade is the main event in the LGBTQIA+ calendar, a major city event and the biggest cross-community parade in Belfast. It is a protest and a celebration, a call for equality, a stand for solidarity and a celebration of the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in Belfast and beyond.
In 2024 over 85,000 people attended and this year organisers are hoping to break that record.
The parade will start at Custom House Square at 1pm, finishing at Victoria Street.
Alliance councillor and the former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Micky Murray is attending the event in a personal capacity this year. It comes after organisers asked political parties to not attend the parade this year in an official capacity, after Stormont backed a ban on puberty blockers.
“Pride is not just a celebration of how far we’ve come as a society in advancing the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, but a chance to reflect on how much progress we still have yet to make, and to protest the inequalities and discrimination that persist," said Cllr Murray.
“Every year, Belfast Pride is a highlight in our local social calendar and we want to wish everyone out celebrating a safe and happy Pride. With the increasingly toxic narratives we’ve seen being perpetuated in recent years around LGBTQIA+ identities, both by influential public figures and in wider society, Pride is more important than ever and the theme ‘No Going Back’ couldn’t be more apt.
“I’m looking forward to marking the occasion with our party members at a special Pride Breakfast event on Saturday morning, before going to march in the parade in a personal capacity for the nineteenth year in a row, as I know a number of my Alliance colleagues will also be doing.
“Alliance will always stand in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. We remain firmly committed to promoting equality and human rights, and championing investment and reform in the services that LGBTQIA+ people in Northern Ireland need.”
