The Festival of Pride opens in Gloucester Park at noon on Saturday 12 September 2026 and runs to 20:30. It is the twentieth year of Pride in Gloucestershire, and the county's Pride now comes with a week of events in front of it and a ticket price that is worth understanding before you turn up. Our event page has the date and the shape of the day.
The march
The march is free and separate from the festival: you do not need a festival ticket to walk in it. It meets outside Gloucester Cathedral from 11:00 and sets off at about 11:30, reaching the park at around 12:30. The organisers' homepage gives the departure as 11:45 while their ticket page gives 11:30, so aim for 11:00 and wait rather than the other way round. Individuals and families need no registration and just turn up. Community groups are asked to register so the procession can be ordered, and that is free too; only corporate groups pay, at 80 or 150 pounds depending on turnover. The route goes through the pedestrianised city centre on paved surfaces, which the organisers describe as usable by wheelchair but bumpy in places.
Tickets, and the price of turning up on the day
An adult advance ticket is 8 pounds, plus a booking fee. On the gate it is 10 pounds, subject to there being any left. Children of 15 and under are 5 pounds either way, and under-twos are free but still need a ticket of their own: every person entering has to have one. The organisers also sell a True Cost Supporter ticket at 42.20 pounds, which is their own estimate of what welcoming one person to the festival actually costs, for anyone who can cover it. Advance ticket holders get the faster entry lane.
What is on the stages
Three stages, a Main, a Cabaret and a Legacy stage, with more than 70 acts across the day and Nadine Coyle headlining. Performers from the two most recent series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK appear across the main and cabaret programmes alongside local drag and cabaret acts.
The Community Voices Stage runs from 12:00 to 19:00 and is the one with a published timetable. A twenty years of Pride exhibition of photographs and memorabilia runs all day. A buddy session at 12:30 pairs people who have come on their own with volunteers, there is a meet-up for parents and carers of LGBTQ+ young people at 14:00, an open session with the local MP, Alex McIntyre, at 14:45, an open microphone from 15:15, and a panel at 16:50 on what the next twenty years of Pride should look like, with the UK Pride Organisers Network and EuroPride Ireland 2028 among those on it.
Away from the stages there are family, youth, sensory and trans zones, a STEM tent, an over-18 area, a funfair and more than 50 traders and charities.
Pride Week
Gloucester has been running events since 3 September. Still to come before the festival: Crafteoke, which is craft and karaoke together, at Roots and Seeds in the Gloucester Food Dock on 8 September from 19:00, a board game evening at Bill's in Gloucester Quays the same night, and the Big Gay Quiz at Hop Kettle on 9 September, doors from 17:30 and the quiz at 19:00.
Getting there, and access
Gloucester station is about ten minutes on foot from the park, with direct trains from London Paddington in roughly an hour and fifty minutes, Birmingham New Street in about an hour and Bristol Temple Meads in about 45 minutes. From Cheltenham the Stagecoach 94 takes around half an hour to the bus station. There is no public parking at the site.
The main stage is BSL interpreted. The park has hardstanding paths and ramped access throughout, a staffed Changing Places facility, accessible toilets and baby changing, and a sensory zone with ear defenders and fidget toys. Printed programmes including large-font versions are handed out on the day, and the organisers take accessibility questions in advance by email.
The country, and what else is on
The United Kingdom scores 43.9 out of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index; our United Kingdom page has the legal detail. We list no venues in Gloucester itself, so the day is the scene here. Three other Prides we list fall on the same Saturday within reach: MK Pride Festival about 104 km away, Derby Pride at 130 km and Chorlton Pride in Manchester at 176 km. The weekend after brings Rushmoor Pride, and Shrewsbury Pride follows on 26 September, 100 km north.
