Please Note That This Event Will Take Place at 3:00Pm on Thursday

Please note that this event will take place at 3:00pm on Thursday.

You are cordially invited to the Official Launch of the Pride In Newry Festival & Parade 2017

This will take place in Rainbow House, Monaghan Street, Newry on

Thursday 24th August at 3:00pm

We are delighted that our guest speakers at this event will be;

Cllr. Roisin Mulgrew, Chairperson Newry Mourne and Down District Council; and

Dr. Michael Wardlow, Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

On the Pride In Newry website you will find out everything you need to know about the parade, all festival events and how to get involved.

The Pride In Newry festival will take place from August 27th to September 2nd.

The Pride In Newry Parade, “Concert in the Park”, family funday and Pride Ball will take place on Saturday 2nd September!

Registration is now open to participate in the Pride in Newry parade; apply for catering and vending sites; voluntary & community group stalls.

Information and application forms can be downloaded using the following link:

The origin of the Pride movement

1.20am, Saturday, June 28th 1969

A regular and brutal police raid on the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, New York took an unexpected turn as a teenage boy, dressed in women’s clothes, being pushed by a police officer decided to fight back and hit the officer in the head with her hand bag. A lesbian being dragged out of the bar fought off 4 police officers, and as she was finally taken down shouted out “why don’t you guys do something?” And to everyone’s surprise they did. The small group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other normally marginalised clientele of the Stonewall Inn fought back against police brutality and the famous Christopher Street riots began.

Who really threw the first punch has been lost to legend, but the events of that day changed the world for LGBTQ people. The movement for social change of the 1950’s and 1960’s had brought a community together and people who had felt oppressed now felt empowered.

Following the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969, a resolution was passed by the Eastern Conference of Homophile Organisations in Philadelphia on the 2nd of November 1969.

“that a demonstration be held annually on the last day of June” and that it would “encompass the ideas and ideals of the larger struggle that we are engaged in – that of our fundamental human rights”