Canterbury Pride 2027 / Pride Canterbury 2027

Pride Canterbury is run by Pride Canterbury CIC, a community interest company, and usually takes place on a Saturday in June. The day opens with the parade at 11am. It sets off from Westgate Gardens by the River Stour, passes through the Westgate Towers, runs along the High Street, turns right into Rose Lane, crosses the Watling Street roundabout and finishes in Dane John Gardens, inside the city walls. In the early years the parade started at the Marlowe Theatre; the Westgate Gardens start was introduced when the event came back after the pandemic.

The festival in Dane John Gardens follows, with stage performances, stalls and a wellbeing area. The main entrance is from the Castle Street car park, over the city wall. Entry is free, which the organisers treat as a principle rather than an extra. Acts over the years have included Courtney Act, S Club, 5ive, Danny Beard and the drag artist Delilah Tickles, who helped lead the very first parade. For a while the programme ran over two days.

Canterbury's Pride history is older than the current organisation. In the early 1970s the city saw its first Pride demonstration, organised by the East Kent group of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality together with the Gay Liberation Front at the University of Kent. Almost forty years passed before Pride Canterbury was founded in the mid-2010s and revived the tradition. The Lord Mayor led the first parade of the new event, and attendance has grown considerably since, making it one of the largest Pride events in Kent.

Outside the festival day, the organisation works with schools, universities, local businesses and LGBTQ+ groups. An exhibition on the city's queer history was shown at the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge. Dane John Gardens is a couple of minutes on foot from Canterbury East station and right next to the bus station; Canterbury West is about fifteen minutes' walk away.