GALWAY DAILY with @GalwayCommunityPride
The much-anticipated Galway Pride parade will take place in the city this afternoon, thirty years to the day after the first one.
With the focus on history throughout Pride week, the march will represent the progress the LGBT+ community has made in those 30 years.
The Parade route starts at City Hall at 2pm.
Community groups, charities, and all those interested in marching in the Parade are asked to be there in time.
Ahead of today’s parade, Galway Pride fundraiser Aoibhin Keighron said: “Everybody is welcome to Pride. If anybody wants to show up on the day, and sees a group they want to be part of, that’s no trouble at all.
“There is a form on our website where you can register to march with us, but you can also just show up on the day. We have a second starting point from Lynch’s Castles on Shop Street.”
“We want everyone to feel welcome no matter how you identify,” Aoibhin continued, pointing out why Pride still matters in a post-marriage equality Ireland. “Pride will always be a protest, a way for us to come out, as a community, showing our support for one another, and creating a safe space for us.
“It’s still very important for everyone to see that we are here, and that, while much has been achieved, there is still a long way to go, in terms of transgender healthcare rights, and there is still homophobia, and a need to still look at making LGBT+ more normalised, and showing that we are part of the community and that we have every right to be here.”
Don’t feel like marching? That’s totally okay too, they’ll be lots of people lining the streets to watch and show support, like an extra-extravagant St Patrick’s Day as the parade makes it way to Father Griffin Park.
The Parade will come to a close with a couple of speeches and a Pride family ‘funday’ will take over the park (weather permitting) with a dog show, face-painting, and a bouncy castle. Afterwards there will be a Parade Afterparty taking place in Nova from 6pm.
And the big Pride Night event will see Club Gass return to the Róisín Dubh. At 7.30 get ready for the Drag Queen Dj extravaganza as Poppy, Vianna and Donna take over, expect some fab tunes and killer lip-syncing.
Dj Ruth join in from 9pm as they kick off their Pride Party downstairs with the Stunning Drag show kicking off at 10pm with host Kiki St. Clair joined by Comedy Central’s “Dragony Aunt” Candy Warhol and current reigning Ringmasters Drag Race Winner Nettles and the Ringmaster herself,Paul Ryder joined by the best of Galway Drag.
As the night gets dark the Róisín will light up with a UV party starting at midnight, featuring some killer dance tunes and U.V. face painting, get ready to Glow.
