Shiny happy people laughingMeet me in the crowd, people, people
Throw your love around, love me, love me
Take it into town, happy, happy
Put it in the ground where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shineShiny Happy People, REM
Nottingham Pride 2018, an afternoon full of smiles and rainbows.
I really wanted to see Nottingham Pride today but the gas man cometh and interrupted my plans. Actually we were having a new cooker delivered and fitted which meant I missed the parade and I even missed Toyah Wilcox.
I did, however, get to Pride and next year I’m going for the whole day. Such a great atmosphere filled Hockley this afternoon. People of all ages, ethnicity, gender and sexuality gathering to celebrate life, the universe and everything with music, dancing, food and drink and lots and lots of laughter.
And there were rainbows everywhere… appropriate as it was a day of sunshine and rain. But when the heavens opened, no one cared, we were all just having a good time.
Phill lent me a rainbow headband, so I removed the chain of flowers from my Stetson and replaced it with the rainbow band. Next year, I think I might have to go the whole hog – dressing up, face paints, the works.
Maybe I get some angel wings. One of my new next door neighbours, a lovely elderly West Indian guy says I’m an angel (haha) but that’s another story.
Back to Pride though and it was genuinely amazing to be in a huge crowd of people where such a spirit of acceptance and tolerance was everywhere. Police officers were sporting rainbows on their uniforms, I saw a trio of St John Ambulance volunteers with rainbow flags sticking out of their medical equipment. Why can’t society always be like that?
There were some amazing outfits and stunning shoes. Some people had gone to an awful lot of trouble to ensure they looked their best.
I loved Miss Titty Bang Bang… as did the rest of the crowd as you can see from my YouTube video.
I didn’t stay late, but I bet a lot of people are still partying now.
It was one of those events were words don;t quite cover it… so here are a few pictures instead.
I had a great time. Roll on next year.
