TWO OF the UK’s top club nights will team up next summer to kick off UK Pride Festival celebrations in the North East.
LGBT+ charity Northern Pride has been selected as hosts of UK Pride 2020, which will take place at Newcastle’s Town Moor from 17 to 19 July, sponsored by Barclays.
And organisers have huge plans for the weekend event, with a Bongo’s Bingo fundraiser on 17 July to help keep the weekend festival free, featuring host Jonny Bongo and queer party favourites Sink the Pink.
Bongo’s Bingo co-founder Jonny Bongo returns to Newcastle after the success of last year’s Pride event, where players won prizes including a Philip Schofield cut out, a mobility scooter and a holiday to Los Angeles courtesy of Manchester Airport.
He will be joined on stage by Sink the Pink, which has taken the capital by storm since it was founded in 2008 and is known for its anything-goes dress code, flamboyant entertainers and inclusive atmosphere.
The LGBTQ+ club night now tours the country, taking up residence in a variety of unconventional venues including working men’s clubs and theatres, and has performed at Glastonbury, Bestival, Lovebox and Latitude, alongside top music acts.
Chair of Northern Pride, Ste Dunn, believes that combining the two will create a night that festival-goers won’t forget.
“We’re delighted to be hosting UK Pride next year and we know we have big shoes to fill, which is why it’s great to have a huge personality like Jonny Bongo returning to host Bongo’s Bingo for a second year.
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“Sink the Pink celebrates everything our festival is about, paying homage to our shared history and creating a space where people from all backgrounds can embrace what makes them unique.
“Our plans for UK Pride are to make the event bigger and more diverse than ever before and I can’t think of any better way to get people in the spirit for everything else to come over the weekend.”
Northern Pride has already teased plans for an ambitious six month programme of events in the lead up to the summer festival, including panel discussions, history projects and pop up exhibitions.
Tickets for Bongo’s Bingo are now on sale at www.northern-pride.co.uk/box-office, with tickets starting at £18.
To find out more about Bongo’s Bingo and Sink the Pink, visit www.bongosbingo.co.uk or www.sinkthepink.co.uk.
For more information about Northern Pride, visit the website or search northernprideuk on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.