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| Sunday at Nottinghamshire Pride (Photo: Simon McMurdo) |
One Nottingham festival that has grown immensely as the years have passed is Nottinghamshire pride; the gay pride celebration welcomes in all those, near and far, that fancy a bit of a camp day out whilst supporting the local gay community. What was once a reasonably cosy affair in the Arboretum has shifted to Forest Fields, a grand stretch of land and this weekend it hosted a variety of stages, performers and an equally-as-entertaining audience.
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| Ruth Lorenzo dives amongst the crowd on Saturday. (Photo: Matt Foulkes) |
The main stage boasted a headline set from dance-pop swede Basshunter, who was greeted with a mass of pleas for his number one single 'Now You're Gone'. The diva-factor was also ticked off with performances from Angie Brown and Nottingham Pride returnee Ruth Lorenzo, who added a kick to the evening's musical offering by taking on rock classics such as 'Highway To Hell' and 'Sweet Child O'Mine'.
Elsewhere, the comedy tent hosted a winning set from Lara A King, finished off with a hilariously ingenious nod to her musical talents. Also able to show off her skills in music, as well as comedy, was the Canadian Mae Martin whose ode to Don Cheadle deserves to be admired by all.
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| Scarlett Tiara wows in the drag tent. Photo: (Simon McMurdo) |
Never forgetting the thriving drag scene, this year's pride gave the queens a stage of their own and, as expected, they brought all the swag, glamour and hilarity you should have expected. Scarlett Tiara won the audience over with dance and lip-synching that could give Britney a run for her money, but she truly shone alongside her Contrary Sister co-star, Madam Tess Tickles. Babserella Rubenstein, fresh from presenting links on the mainstage, also performed a few routines that involved plenty of audience participation, whether they liked it or not!
All the fun of the Saturday was topped off with a host of after-parties, so the disappointing turn out on the Sunday was potentially a result of hangovers and the great British weather, that reared it's ugly heads with a quick hailstorm. Following an eye-catching march around the crowds, the cabaret crew delivered a captivating performance. Elsewhere, the ICE improvisational comedy team gave a few tips and hints in the comedy tent, before performing an entertaining set of their own. As the sun came out, so did the headliner Kelly Llorenna, who performed a short set of her 90's hits and closed with the N-Trance collaboration 'Set You Free'.
The excitement of Saturday didn't entirely pass through to Sunday but, as a weekend that asked only £1 of it's visitors, it was quite the entertaining affair that we've come to expect from the pride celebrations. As the sun beamed it's heat down on forest fields for the majority of the event, it's difficult to consider another local event that can boast as much variety, entertainment and enjoyment; until we find such an event, we always have Pride 2013 to anticipate.
