Pride Fringe & Events

FESTIVALGOERS won’t need to wait until July for this year’s Newcastle Pride celebrations to begin, with a programme of exciting events announced today for the city’s first ever Pride Fringe, set to take place from June.

A new addition to the North East calendar for 2025, Pride Fringe will offer a wide range of live entertainment, comedy and theatre, along with LGBTQIA+ networking opportunities at a host of local venues across the early summer months ahead of the highly anticipated Newcastle Pride Festival on 19th and 20th July, which is presented in partnership with NE1 and Newcastle City Council.

As part of the celebration, North East drag royalty and Pride Radio favourite, Ophelia Balls, will also be taking to the stage, debuting their very own one-woman show, ‘A Life Not in Heels’, on Friday 20th June at Northern Stage. For the very first time, and without a safety net, Ophelia will be sharing heartfelt, hilarious, and unforgettable stories from their life as a legendary North East drag queen.

The Fringe festivities will kick off on 5th June with ‘Al’s Pals’ at Newcastle’s The Stand Comedy Club hosted by local comedian, Al Stevenson, and featuring a range of North East comedic talent including Matt Reed, Maxine Wade, Catherine Young and Percy Savage.

This will then be followed by Newcastle Pride’s ‘Laugh Out Proud’ fundraiser on the 9th June, also at The Stand Comedy Club, which will bring together some of the UK’s best LGBTQIA+ comedians for a one-night-only celebration of queer talent and community. All funds raised from the event will go directly to Northern Pride, who work to protect, promote, and provide for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Other highlights of the Pride Fringe programme for 2025 include an immersive screening of the Wizard of Oz at Tyneside Cinema on Thursday 12th June, featuring some of the region’s favourite drag artists. Pride Speed Friending at NQ64, will take place a week later, on Thursday 19th, encouraging attendees to meet new people through a mix of games, chats and chilled out vibes, and the iconic ‘Pedro Pascal says Trans Rights Cabaret’ will take place at the Alphabetti theatre on 19th July.

Northern Pride is also partnering with other LGBTQIA+ organisations and charities to bring more to Pride Fringe this year. Northern Proud Voices are back with their Newcastle Cathedral Concert on Friday 4th July and Curious Arts are showcasing Bi Curious George at Alphabetti a day earlier on Thursday 3rd. In addition to this, Northern Pride will be partnering with Out to Swim who will be showcasing their inclusive swimming sessions at Heworth before enjoying a social event down on the quayside on Saturday 5th July.

Festival attendees will have the opportunity to join Out of Office, the LGBTQIA+ professionals’ network for an evening of business networking and a special panel discussion with leading figures from the region at Ward Haddaway’s Quayside premises, Thursday 26th June.

Also promising to be great additions to Pride Fringe are the Eldon Sq take over, which will take place on Saturday 14th June, and Queer Exchange, taking place on Sunday 22nd June, with queer makers and creatives being invited to One Strawberry Lane for an indoor market.

Following an incredible response to its creative commission call, Newcastle Pride is also almost ready to announce the worthy winners, who will have the chance to create and showcase their work during Pride Fringe Festival and Newcastle Pride 2025.

Some events will be ticketed with prices starting at £3, and are available from 1st May. Market stalls registration also opens on 1st May.