Chichester Pride promises seven-hour family extravaganza

SussexWorld

Chichester Pride promises a seven-hour family festival on the front lawn of Chichester College.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, group arts editor for Sussex Newspapers. Always

00:06fabulous fun to speak to Dawn Gracie. Now Dawn, we're coming up for Chichester's Force

00:10Pride, and obviously it's seven hours of great family fun. But you're saying from your point

00:16of view as production manager, it's a seven hour stage extravaganza as well. And that's

00:21your department, isn't it? So how do you put together seven hours of entertainment and

00:26the lineup? It's fabulous, isn't it? So varied. How do you begin?

00:31How do you begin? Well, I think, I mean, I've obviously got many, many years experience of

00:35casting shows. Seven hours lineup is a responsibility, but it's also a responsibility to make sure

00:41that there's lots of diversity, inclusion. So I make sure it's a real sort of a mixture

00:49of everything you could possibly want. So obviously from choirs to soloists to groups

00:54to musicians and everything, making sure that everyone is representative from disabled bodies

01:01to trans people, to every part of the LGBTQ plus rainbow, basically, that is represented

01:09on the stage. And we also have enough serious moments in between all the frolics and fun.

01:16That is all family friendly.

01:17That sounds quite a challenge, because you've got to come up with something that is family

01:20friendly, haven't you? That's a starting point. But you've also got to come up with something

01:25that makes a statement.

01:27Yes.

01:28What would you want the entertainment to say?

01:31Yeah, it's like knitting together a beautiful story. And it's, yeah, it takes months and months

01:38of planning, lots of contacting people, and making sure that the story reads correctly, and that

01:44the right people are in place, and that everyone, everyone in our lovely audience can look up and

01:49identify with some of the performers, and make sure that things are family friendly, definitely.

01:56And that it just sort of, it normalises differences between people and make sure that, you know,

02:01we represent inclusivity, love, diversity. And that is really important for this, for our

02:07Chichester Pride event.

02:08And why is the stage a good place to show that we're all the same, however different we

02:14are?

02:15Well, why is the stage? That's a really good question. I think, obviously, people, performers,

02:20professional performers who we hire in, including RuPaul Drag Race UK, Kitty Scott Claus, we're

02:25very excited about that, and Brighton Gay Men's Choir. The stage, you know, people who put

02:30themselves on stage are in themselves making a statement. So to be part of a Pride is really

02:38important, and to be, to be out there, and, you know, for people to see you, and to celebrate

02:43you, but also, in turn, celebrating everyone who's come to watch you, and very much the festival

02:49environment of our event. You know, we've got family friendly, we've got Bubble Man, we've

02:56got, we've got food, drink. It's just, yeah, it's just, it literally is something for everyone.

03:04Absolutely.

03:04As long as you welcome everyone, you are very welcome.

03:07And this year, as last year, warmed up by a parade.

03:12I know, and this year, the parade, as you know, is going to be twice as long, and it's

03:16going to go all the way down to the college. And yeah, because last year made a real statement.

03:21It was historic. It was the first ever to happen. And now it's going to be the first ever to

03:26happen all the way down. So people were lining the streets last year. It was unbelievable.

03:31It's quite a sight. And then of course, once you're within the safe confines of our site

03:36at Chichester College, you can just literally just enjoy and soak up. The friendly, it's so

03:43friendly. I can't tell you, it's such a friendly event, and inclusive, and just open to everyone.

03:50We've got lots of workshops during the day, including hula hooping, Charleston dancing.

03:56We've got Drag Queen Story Hour. So there's lots to do for young ones. And it goes on 12

04:01till seven. So it's, yeah, it's an extravaganza.

04:04Well, that sounds fabulous. And as people amble away at seven o'clock, wandering away slowly,

04:10what do you want?

04:10I know, yes.

04:11What are you wanting them to be taking away?

04:16Sorry, I missed that.

04:17What are you wanting people to take away with them at the end of the day as they leave?

04:22I'm wanting people to take away, like they have done in previous years, how friendly everyone

04:28was, and how safe people felt, and how welcomed they all were. And it has to be said, I want

04:34to, on behalf of Chichester Pride, thank the venues also in the City Centre, who last year,

04:40as I believe this year, are putting on after Pride events as well. So they're, you know, dressing

04:46their venues up and welcoming people in, and basically letting the party carry on for those

04:50who want to. So we are blessed in Chichester with lots of venues, lots of eateries. So

04:55the more the merrier.

04:57Fantastic. Well, Dawn, congratulations on the line-up we put together. It starts at midday,

05:02runs through to seven, Saturday, May the 24th, with the parade before that. Brilliant.

05:08And there's lots of, there's varying ticket, there's varying tickets. It starts at £12.

05:13And obviously we have children under 12 are free, so I had to refer to my notes. So if

05:20you go on to the Chichester Pride website, there's lots of different types of tickets,

05:24but I would urge you to buy soon, because in previous years we have sold out, and we'd

05:31love everyone who wants to be there to be there. So don't leave it to the last minute.

05:35Perfect. Lovely to speak to you. I hope it goes brilliantly.

05:38Lovely. You too. Thank you.

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