Pride event brings £4m into the region’s coffers
THIS year’s Newcastle Pride event delivered an economic impact of £4m, the city’s BID company has revealed.
Pride in the City, which was presented in partnership with Newcastle NE1, welcomed record numbers to this year’s festival across the city centre, with more than 82,000 people taking part.
The economic impact and satisfaction survey confirmed that the event marked the first ever Pride experience for a third of participants, with 75% identifying as LGBTQIA+ and 73% of attendees visiting from outside of Newcastle city centre postcodes. A total of 70% said it was better than previous years, with 90% confirming they would return next year. Overall perception scores were positive, with most scoring 8+ out of 10.
Ste Dunn, director of Northern Pride, said: “From the satellite events which started earlier in the month, to the main events and through visitors to Newcastle during the weekend, including those who were able to enjoy from the sidelines, the positive impact on the city has been huge.
“After such a positive response from our community, supporters and partners, who have embraced the citywide takeover, to receiving our economic impact and satisfaction data this week, we’ve been overwhelmed at the success of this year’s event.
“We set out to create a more accessible, unapologetically visible pride celebration, but also a festival which would benefit the city, local people, bars, restaurants and hotels and we’ve achieved that together.”
Stephen Patterson, chief executive at Newcastle NE1, said: “In what is our 10th year supporting Northern Pride, it is amazing to see the continued success of the festival following the move from the Town Moor into the heart of the city.
“To see such crowds enjoying the live performers and Market Village near Grey Street, to the Family & Youth Zone, satellite events and the main stage, the city was quite literally brimming with pride.
“This year’s change in format created even more opportunities for local businesses and those in the city to support the festival and benefit from its positive impact and that should be celebrated. The impact is beyond expectation and we’re incredibly proud to have been able to support Northern Pride again.”
Kim McGuinness, North East Mayor, added: “This year’s celebrations are a huge milestone for Newcastle. Across all events, but in particular with the march taking place through the city centre, this year’s festival succeeded in bringing together even more of the LGBTQIA+ community, business partners, allies and supporters in solidarity, in what will be a historic shift for the city centre celebrations.”