Proud Melksham held its second annual pride festival on Saturday 24th June celebrating the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
The event was held in Melksham Assembly Hall where local businesses held stalls, with crafts and goodies and local support services and charities including Proud Melksham; Rethink Mental Illnesses; Wiltshire Council public health team; Wiltshire Sexual Health; Victim Support; Swindon and Wiltshire Pride representatives; Guide Dogs; face-painting plus more.
Local drag queen, Miss Lucy Luscious Lips hosted the event and entertained the crowd with a glittering medley of hits. A performance followed by Bristol’s Miss Jam Tart, who gave a debut cabaret show with number of sing-a-long songs. Lypsync for your life returned and Clare Deloon and the legendary Billy & Louie closed the day, wowing the audience with their vocals.
Organiser and Proud Melksham chair Ryan Clarke said, “It was amazing to once again see hundreds of locals support this event. So many young people and families came into a safe space where they can truly be themselves. It’s a reminder to us all just how much an event like this is needed.”
New this year was an evening afterparty. Ryan said, “Diva Nights opened up our show with a medley of famous female vocalists. The drinks flowed as our audience got into the show. Annie Kadabraa wowed the audience with her saucy magic act, the audience were in hysterics as we all laughed and let go. Finally Moonstruck, a tribute to Cher closed us out, the crowd were on their feet and dancing. Again, so many happy faces.”
Speaking about the challenges of organising the event, Ryan said, “There are always challenges, the event was subject to a hate crime prior to taking place, when church members glued posters across the entrance to the hall. While we appreciate their opinion, open a dialogue with us, talk to us, come inside to see all the happy faces. Pride is such a positive place, the atmosphere is incredible, it’s unfortunate people who just don’t understand, don’t take the time to engage constructively.
“Hosting a large event isn’t easy, there’s always teething problems, but we had support from our local Pride family in neighbouring towns who came together to support us ahead of the event.
“Organising Pride for Melksham is exhausting, it’s been more than a year in the planning, the day can be kind of a blur for us. But when you look back through those pictures and see everything that happened, all the smiling people, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Melksham mayor cllr Simon Crundell said, “It was fantastic to be a part of the town’s second pride festival and see so many in the community enjoy the event. Congratulations to Ryan Clarke and Proud Melksham for organising the day and for celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in Melksham. We’re looking forward to next year’s pride event.”
