28 Jun 2025
Pink in the Park
Peel Park hosts a free fun day out to celebrate the rich history of Bradford’s LGBTQ+ communities.
Join us in Peel Park for a day-long picnic and party celebrating the history of LGBTQ+ life in Bradford.
Pink in the Park is a celebration of the wonderful and too-often-hidden histories of Bradford’s LGBTQ+ community. People of all ages and backgrounds are welcome – and it’s all absolutely free.
This big day out in Peel Park is inspired by the short-lived but much-loved ’80s gay festival Bradford in the Pink, the Bradford Lesbian & Gay Picnics of the ’90s and a host of other groups, collectives, events and grassroots gatherings created by the district’s LGBTQ+ community down the years. It’s all part of Back in the Pink, a celebration of the city’s LGBTQ+ heritage.
Please note: alcohol is not permitted in Peel Park.
What's on?
The heart of Pink in the Park will be a picnic. You can bring your own – or if you arrive early, you can collect one of our special picnic goodie bags celebrating the food and drink heritage of the LGBTQ+ community, celebrating collective meals and recipes from community publications.
Put on your dancing shoes and step back in time with DJs transporting us through 50 years of gay clubbing culture, from the 1970s to 2025, with classic anthems from every era, drag interpretations of classic tunes and a very special dancealong hosted by Fatt Projects.
You can also…
- Screenprint your own specially designed poster – created by Alan Richardson, member of Bradford Gay Switchboard and the original designer/printer of the poster for Bradford in the Pink back in 1985.
- Play a range of games inspired by past events at our free family fete.
- Make your own button badge in one of several new designs, all inspired by Castles in the Sky Projects’ archive of pride and protest badges.
- Contribute to our collective zine, inspired by magazines, newsletters and zines created by Bradford’s LGBTQ+ groups and collectives from the 70’s to the present day.
- Have a kickabout with the Bradford Baddies, Bradford’s grassroots football team for women, trans and non-binary people.
What to wear?
This is a picnic in the UK, so dress for the weather in whatever makes you feel great. But if you’re looking for a little inspiration, why not heed the words of the Bradford in the Pink organisers – who encouraged their attendees in the ’80 to ‘Think pink!’
Community LGBTQ+ Choir Callout
Castles in the Sky and Bradford 2025 are looking for up to 20 people from the LBGTQIA community in Bradford to take part in a pop up Choir for just one day as part of Pink In The Park.
Participants will meet for the first time on 27th of June in a Rehearsal workshop with fantastic vocalist, unfathomable drag artist and glorious choir leader Fatt Butcher to learn 1-2 songs together. This will take place in Bradford City Centre.
The next day, you will then perform as part of Pink in the Park’s grand finale in Peel Park on June 28th as part of the Big Fatt Dance Party, led by Fatt Projects.
Note: the day runs from 12-5PM and participants must be available for a performance between 3-4PM.
FAQs
Q: Is this Bradford Pride?
A: No, this is a separate event focused on the Bradfords radical LGBTQIA heratige. Bradford Pride is a civic event organised by the council and is yet to be announced.
Q: Will the be food for sale?
A: No. This event, in part, is a homage to the annual Lesbian and Gay Picnics- we encourage you to bring your picnic with you and you can pop into various shops on the approach like the Morrisons Daily or Akka’s on Otley Road.
Q: Will there be any inside activities?
A: No this is an outdoor event
Q: Why Peel Park?
A: This is an historically important place due to several LGBTQ+ grassroots gatherings happening here over the last 4 decades
Back in the Pink
Pink in the Park is part of Back in the Pink, a series of events and a new archive celebrating the rich and radical history of LGBTQ+ life in Bradford.
Image © Emma Bentley Fox
