Damp Pride

 The weather wasn't brilliant, but people still seemed to have a good time!

It was a busy day in Hay, with the Saturday Market in the square, and the Craft and Well-Being Fair in the garden of the Globe, as well as Hay Pride at the Castle.

I had a quick look round the Well-Being Fair while I was waiting for the Pride parade to start.  There were three Tarot readers there - the going rate seems to be £30 for 30 minutes.  There were some people with therapy beds, too, and I had a good chat with one of the craftspeople.  She had some rather sweet stick mermaids, with woven tails, and called herself The Hag Under the Hill Spirit Dolls.  Billie Charity was there as the official photographer, and Amelie Williams as the official artist - she designed the new tote bags and tshirt logo.

I am actually in this picture, in a red coat off to the right hand side, just behind the samba band (picture taken by Malk Williams and shared on Facebook).

I think the Pride parade was even bigger than last year, and because the Saturday market was filling the square, the parade continued down Castle Street and round to the other Castle entrance on Oxford Road.  There was a samba band leading the procession, and the dancers in the enormous Welsh hats were back.

At the Castle, the taiko drummers were on the stage, and there was a flash mob dancing to songs like Queen's I Want to Break Free.  Boo La Croux sang Come to the Cabaret, and there was a short speech from the other two organisers of the event.  They pointed out that Pride is always political, and pledged their support for our trans brothers and sisters, and also for the people suffering in Palestine.  

Hay Pride couldn't have happened without grant funding, but they have also been fund raising, and said that the money they raised will go to future Hay Prides, but also to a Palestinian children's charity.

There were stalls on the Castle lawn, split about 50/50 between merchandise and health and charities.  The lady at the HIV stall, Fast Track Cymru, reckoned they had the best free swag - I got a nice bright red tote bag from them.  They were also providing information for sexual health, including home testing kits for sexually transmitted diseases, and a leaflet on trans and non-binary sexual health from the Terance Higgins Trust.  They can be found at www.fasttrack.wales

I met a couple of people from Squirrel Friends, too - they provide support for trans people, and can be found at squirrelfriends.org.uk  I have no idea what squirrels have to do with it!

PAVO were also there, and West Mercia Women's Aid, which supports people affected by domestic abuse.  They can be found at www.westmerciawomensaid.org

There was also a leaflet from Fighting with Pride, a charity for LGBT+ military veterans.  Their website is at www.fightingwithpride.org.uk

Then there was the fun stuff - Otherworldz, Gay-on-Wye and Lauren's comic stall were there selling a variety of rainbow themed stuff and books and comics.  Hay Pride was selling tshirts and tote bags, and I went a bit mad at the badge stall.  Inside the Castle there were more stalls with crafts and stickers and so on.

Later there was a dog show and there were also food stalls.

In the evening there was a cabaret at the Globe.

It was all great fun, and I met lots of friends there!  And everyone admired my rainbow coloured long cap, that I knitted myself.