Free community festival will put the Pride back into Portsmouth after cancellation of showpiece spectacular
The Guildhall and Guildhall Square will play host to event on October 10
A free, community festival is coming to the heart of the city to overcome some of the ‘profound’ loss of this year’s Portsmouth Pride extravaganza.
Organisers were faced with the difficult decision of cancelling June’s colourful spectacular and parade at the last minute as the city was battered by strong winds and heavy rain.
Now organisers have announced that on Saturday, October 10, The Guildhall and Guildhall Square will be taken over for the free Portsmouth Pride Community Festival!
The day will begin in the square with a ‘Unity Gathering’, the parade speeches which could not be delivered in June and a performance by the Batala drummers. The festival will then move inside the Guildhall where a recreated Pride Market Village will stage activities and workshops for all ages. a special collaboration with DragJam UK, a landmark talks programme with the University of Portsmouth and a pop-up Board Game Café with Dice
CP Robinson, chair & campaigns lead of Portsmouth Pride Trust, said: ‘The cancellation (of Portsmouth Pride 2026) had a profound effect on our team, who had contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer time to creating what we believed would be our strongest event yet.
‘Thank you to the many partners, supporters and friends across the city region who offered practical help, encouragement and kindness when we needed it most. For a small, volunteer-led Pride organisation, cancelling its main event can threaten its very survival. We are therefore immensely proud to be moving forward: planning Portsmouth Pride 2027 while also expanding our year-round events, community engagement and outreach.
‘That is only possible because our resilient and tenacious volunteer team is supported by partners who have shown extraordinary faith, courage and commitment.’
CP added: ‘We lost much more than income when we cancelled our Main Day Event. Our community lost the opportunity to be loud, visible and connected; to stand together in protest; to meet vital services; to support more than 50 independent makers, traders and creators; and, quite simply, to take up space as Portsmouth Pride.’
The Portsmouth Pride Community Festival has been made possible with the support of The Guildhall Trust, which joins Portsmouth City Council, Hampshire Boulevard, Biscoes, Tesco and Victorious Festival at the highest level of Pride support.
Free tickets and more details will be released within the coming weeks.
Portsmouth Pride 2027 will be on Saturday, June 12, at Castle Field.