First Ever Pride in Bishop Auckland Reminds Us Why Local Pride Matters (With Gallery)

Bishop Auckland held its first ever pride event the other week. Huzzah! Another rainbow flag stuck in the ground of the North East! A day and a half of festivities descended on the market town’s Bishop Auckland College, starting on the evening of June 21st as cabaret and drag performances delighted the inaugural audience. The next day was full of not just partying but exactly the sort of community building that reminds us why local Queer Pride is so important.

The first night, the main stage showcased Hyper Dermic, The Delta Quadrant, Carrot and Drag Race UK icon Ginger Johnson each getting the crowd going with their own entirely unique acts; all hosted by burlesque performer Nana Funk. Be it Hyper Dermic’s lip-syncing, The Delta Quadrant’s employee induction, Carrot’s wild persona or Ginger’s hyperactive running through the attendees giving out high-fives, you were in for a good time.

Ginger Johnson

The next day was full of things to see and do at the free Community stage, which hosted a bubbleologist, stilt walkers, and singing and dancing performances throughout the day, accompanied by walking characters, food stalls and talks taking place inside the college, including one on LGBT History in the North East. Notable mention to Jade Mia Broadhead who performed a song called “Trans Exclusionary Reactionary Fascists” that was so good it got me walking over from the other side of the site just to see who it was. 

Jade Mia Broadhead

The paid-ticket mainstage for both Friday and Saturday was also full of performers. Friday featured the aforementioned queens, and starting Saturday off was storytime with Nana Funk in the morning, Vengaboys, Steps and Cher tribute acts in the afternoon. Comedy began from early evening as Elaine Robertson compered for Alex Mitchell and Stephen Bailey before finally closing the event with Gucci Gaboré, Simon David and the iconic Lady Bushra.

The only boos heard the entire two days was when Simon David accidentally greeted the crowd with “Hello Bishop Stortford”, which was as hilarious for us as it must have been embarrassing for him. Gucci Gaboré wowed everyone with her performance and Lady Bushra dazzled with not just her own talents; she also got the audience involved in a “sassy that sari” competition where contestants had to put on a sari within a minute then do the best performance they could muster to a Ru Paul track.

Lady Bushra

The greatest thing about this was how it brought the community together. There was a wide range of ages and many families there, and accessibility had clearly been considered as many disabled people, including myself, seemed able to get around the site without fuss. When asking a chair user about their experience of accessibility throughout the day they said they had no problems at all. 

The only thing that felt off was the inclusion of the Labour party, the only political party there. Their stall had an activity to place a sticker on what policies you feel are most important for Labour to support and believe it or not, there was no option for “LGBT rights”. When speaking to those at the stall and the candidate himself Sam Rushworth, they all stated they actually had no knowledge of Labour’s manifesto policies or recent statements on LGBT rights. 

More than a little insulting, it felt disrespectful to the space that had been curated with such care and attention by organisers to be so uninformed while pleading for support of its patrons. My personal opinion that no political parties should be allowed at Pride is for exactly this reason. Usually their presence and support quickly shows itself to be hollow, but even if they did turn up informed and ready to represent, the power dynamic is still problematic. It furthers the political party more than anything else. This usually in turn reflects worse on the event organisers, but Bishop Pride is not responsible for the labour stall’s laziness.

Pride Sign

For a first-time event to come out so strong in every single area aside from that one hiccup is not just brilliant: it is exceedingly rare, and it would be unfair to treat Bishop Pride as if it has the same power as London Pride. We can only hope that next year that spot is filled with local food, queer owned or queer supportive businesses and the like, as more people recognise this as a great day out.

Pride in the north doesn’t end when June does. Northern Pride is in late July, and is a gigantic three day celebration that has tens of thousands of attendees every year. But amongst all the partying, we can easily start to lose sight of the amazing effect smaller Pride events have on the places that hold them, the community is made a safer and more open place for the people living in it.

There will be no lecture about why Pride is an important protest, as the reader will likely know. Instead, I will simply say that unfortunately in the past I and friends of mine have experienced hate crimes in the area, and Pride was the first time I have felt able to relax there since. I’ve felt even safer revisiting after. Friends who live in the town have said the same thing. The ripple of Pride is just as important as the party. 

Just knowing there are people there making the effort to make it safer, to loudly call for community and decry bigotry and violence has a real tangible impact on the lives of the people in the area. It’s more than not feeling alone, but feeling part of a community that supports and recognises queerness as a joyous part of life. That is life-saving. So here’s hoping next year is somehow even better. 

Below is a gallery of photos from various performances from Friday and Saturday