The date (03/09/2022) is fast approaching and plans are falling into place. We are excited to announce our itinerary for the day and give you some more details about the event.

First of all you will need to go to Eventbrite and get yourself a ticket, unless you are volunteering with us. Tickets are free of charge – we’re not after your money! But we do have to limit our numbers for insurance purposes and for health and safety reasons, to make sure we have enough stewards and adequate first aid cover etc. With more time and planning, we could have allowed for more people; but as you know, putting on this event was not something we expected to be doing.

You will get an e-ticket which you can then show to the volunteers on the day to get your wristband. Please do not print your ticket unless you have to; where possible, just show us the ticket on your phone or other device to save trees 🌳💚🌍

Once you’ve sorted out your ticket, you’re all set until the day itself. With your space at Yeovil Does Pride secured, you now have time to plan your outfit, steam your Pride flags, and think about what you want to bring to the picnic!

Here’s what the day itself will look like:

11:00-12:00
Come and find us at the green space outside St John’s Church, known colloquially as The Beach. We will be set up at the What3Words location ///local.parade.alert with a big rainbow picnic blanket where you can show us your ticket and collect your wristbands.

12:00-13:00
The Pride Parade begins, taking us through town and down to Ninesprings. Don’t worry, the Parade isn’t a hour’s walk! But in our planning we have allowed plenty of time; for any delays if we don’t leave exactly at 12:00, or if it takes longer to get across the roads safely at designated crossing points due to a lot of traffic etc. We don’t want anyone to rush or be concerned about being left behind.

13:00-14:00
It’s picnic time! After a short address to officially open and welcome everyone to our Pride Picnic in the Park, we have allocated this time to just enjoy our food and each other’s company. Our friends at Yeovil Art Space will be running an arts and crafts area from this time until the end of the event. We have also organised a scavenger hunt for the young and young at heart, and there will be a selfie frame to help you capture great memories of the day.

14:00-15:00
During this period, there will be some speeches from local key figures and LGBT+ folk. They won’t be constantly one after the other; there will be time in between each speech for reflection and discussion with those around you. Community is the focus of this event, and indeed our charity, and having brought people together we want to encourage you to make new connections and share with one another if you feel comfortable to do so.

15:00-16:00
There will be some live entertainment from local musicians to round off our event with a little music and merriment. Yeovil Does Pride officially ends at 16:00 and we will be leaving Ninesprings shortly after this, as will the first aiders and other volunteers we’ve enlisted to make this event safe, as well as enjoyable. We will be asking everyone to vacate the area where we have had our event, so that we can make sure we leave the gorgeous green space clean and tidy. This is for the benefit of other people who want to enjoy the park, and helps to keep the local wildlife safe too.

And there you have it! We hope that this can be an event worthy of all the awesome LGBT+ folk in our town; we’d have loved it to be an even bigger celebration but this is what we’ve managed to pull together in such a short space of time. We’d love to know your thoughts!

This was a lot to share for now! Information still to come regarding:
🏳️‍🌈 Pride Parade Route (with Accessible Alternatives and Accessibility Guide)
🏳️‍🌈 Details about the arts and crafts activites
🏳️‍🌈 The Scavenger Hunt
🏳️‍🌈 Our kind sponsors and supporters