UK Black Pride: Munroe Bergdorf, Vinegar Strokes and Dominique Jackson join line-up
This year's event will be held vitually from 12pm-6pm this Sunday 16 August.
By Will Stroude
UK Black Pride is ensuring coronavirus doesn’t get in the way of bringing queer BAME communities together this weekend with a full digital programme of events.
This Sunday (16 August) will see a powerful array of performers, speakers and organisations celebrate the 15th anniversary of Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent.
Virtual Pride-goers will be able to tune in from anywhere in the world via the UK Black Pride website from 12pm-6pm to see the speeches from the likes of Pose star Dominique Jackson and model Munroe Bergdorf.
Hoested by Drag Race UK‘s Vinegar Strokes and playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair MBE, the ‘Main Stage’ will see performances from drag artist Valqaeda, singer Jason Kwan, drag king Beau Jangles, Afrobeats star Nyja, and Aaron Carty’s Beyonce Experience.
The virtual main stage will be headlined by VINCINT, the Philadelphia-born singer and songwriter who rose to prominence as a finalist on the first season of US singing competition The Four.
‘The Wellbeing Area’ features talks from MicroRainbow, Rainbow Noir, Kiki Bristol and Gendered Intelligence and performances from Sherika Sherard and Waste Womxn.
‘The Desi Room’ is hosted by Ryan Lanji, founder of queer Bollywood club night Hungama and winner of Netflix’s The Big Flower Fight, and comedian and human rights defender Maria Munir. Bollywood dancer Shiva Raichandani, burlesque dancer April Fiasco and singer Teenasai Balamu are among the performers.
‘The Queer Young Folx’ room is hosted by Sabah Choudrey from the Colours Youth Network and Don One from Albert Kennedy Trust, with performances from K-Pop dance group O.D.C, drag artist Soroya Marchelle, poet Tajah Hamilton and singer Atlantis Ghandi.
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah aka Lady Phyll, co-founder and executive director of UK Black Pride, says she hopes this year’s digital event will help combat the loneliness and isolation experienced by many LGBTQ people of colour – something which will only have been exacerbated by recent global events.
“Our anniversary celebration comes at a difficult time for many in our communities, and we want to reiterate to our communities that we are committed to being the pride-home for LGBTQ people of colour across the UK”, Lady Phyll said in a statement.
“We love our community so much and we hope our anniversary celebration goes some way in helping alleviate some of the loneliness and isolation that so many have been feeling.”
You can tune in to UK Black Pride this Sunday 16 August from 12pm-6pm at ukblackpride.org.uk