On 8 September 2018, Channel Islands Pride was held in Guernsey for the second time and, on 9 September 2018, Alderney held its first ever Pride.

Unlike 2016, when Guernsey held a very wet first Pride, the sun was shining as participants gathered in Candie Gardens at 2pm for a pre-parade picnic on the grass. At 4pm, the parade started with the 50 metre rainbow street flag being rolled out over the heads of the parade into Ann Place.

The parade moved down the narrow lanes of St Peter Port, keeping everyone tighly packed and within touch of the front of the parade, led by Samba Burros, Guernsey’s  community Samba band. Down Smith Street and onto the High Street. At the end of the High Street was the Town Church, which had a surprise ready for parade participants – a huge rainbow balloon arch that had been put up that morning by the Church’s clergy as a show of solidarity and support for the island’s LGBT+ community.

The parade ended in Market Square where the Pride stage was hosted by Liberate’s Olly, Tigger and Magenta, with speeches by Ellie Jones (Liberate) and Kenny McDonald (The Channel Islands Co-Operative Society), and music from The Recks, The Cuban Brothers, The London Gay Big Band and Kalon Rae.

There was an amazing family area outside HMV hosting The Princess Project, balloon twister Gareth Le Page, Living Creations cactus workshop, portrait artist Ryan de Haaff, and art activities from Emma Domaille.

The following day, Alderney hosted possibly 2018’s smallest Pride, but that didn’t make it any less moving for the participants, some of whom were experiencing their first ever Pride – and certainly their first ever Pride in their home island. We predict that it will only get bigger as ‘Pride collectors’ add Alderney to their must-see lists!

#strongertogether

Some photos from Guernsey Pride:

This is a short video from Alderney Pride: