Back in the Pink
Preserving and celebrating the LGBTQ+ history of Bradford
Join us to preserve and celebrate Bradford’s LGBTQ+ heritage with picnics, festivals and the creation of a new archive.
Bradford 2025 and Castles in the Sky Projects are proud to present Back in the Pink, a series of special events and a new archive celebrating the rich and radical history of LGBTQ+ life in Bradford.
Paying homage to Bradford in the Pink, a series of festivals that took place in Manningham and the city centre some 40 years ago, Back in the Pink will return the histories of LGBTQ+ people in Bradford to the spotlight, celebrating their achievements and their stories – and connecting them with life in Bradford in 2025.
Pink in the Park, the first event in June, is a fun and free day out for people of all ages and backgrounds in Peel Park – an opportunity to step back in time and explore the city’s LGBTQ+ history with DJs, performances, screenprinting, workshops and a picnic.
Later in the year, there’ll be a weekend-long celebration with new artist commissions, parties inspired by classic Bradford gay nights and venues, talks and workshops that reaffirm Bradford’s significance as a place for LGBTQ+ communities then and now.
Help build the Bradford LGBTQ+ Archive
Back in the Pink will collect both items and oral histories to document Bradford’s LGBTQ+ history – groups such as Lesbian Line and Bradford Gay Switchboard, venues like the Junction and the Bavaria, and publications including Graft, Bradford Gay and Antics. This material will form the first Bradford LGBTQ+ Archive, and will also feature in an accompanying publication and an LGBTQ+ heritage walking tour of the city centre.
If you’re interested in donating materials to Bradford LGBTQ+ Archive, or if you’re happy to be interviewed as part of the oral histories project, please contact [email protected].