Chelmsford gets ready to celebrate Pride 2025

June is Pride month, and organisations across Chelmsford are coming together to celebrate LGBTQ+ life in the coming weeks with a fabulous programme of events, including Essex Pride’s annual march through the city centre.

Pride March and Festival

Chelmsford will once again host Essex’s biggest LGBTQ+ event of the year, with Essex Pride’s Pride march and festival on Saturday 21 June.

The event attracts 4000 attendees every year, welcoming people from all backgrounds and communities from across Chelmsford and Essex. This year’s march will set off from Pop World in the city centre at 11.20am. It’s free to join, and you can register in advance online.

The Pride march ends at Central Park, where the Pride festival takes place. This year’s festival has a huge lineup of artists and DJs performing live over two stages, including headliners The Venga Boys, Louisa Johnson and RuPaul’s Drag Race Queens Tia Kofi and La Voix.

The Vengaboys, Louisa Johnson, Tia Kofi and Pink tribute artist Vicky Jackson will be performing at Essex Pride 2025.

There’ll also be Dua Lipa and PINK! tribute acts, a cabaret stage, silent disco tent and family zone with crafts and storytelling.

In addition to all this, there’ll be stalls offering gifts and merchandise, games and activities, and advice and support for LGBTQ+ individuals. Licensed bars will also be on site offering refreshments including a brand-new pale ale from local Chelmsford brewery, Radio City Beer Works, created especially for Essex Pride 2025.

Chair of Essex Pride, Garry Ormes, says:

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“We are so pleased to be returning with the Essex Pride march again this year, it feels so important to recognise the pivotal part that Pride marches have played in driving changes in society and law.

“Our aim is to highlight an incredibly positive message about acceptance and celebrating our differences.”

Garry Ormes, Chair of Essex Pride

The festival starts from 12pm and finishes at 10pm. All are welcome to come along and tickets are available from the Essex Pride website.

Pride placard painting and LGBTQ+ meet ups at The Art Place

In advance of the official Pride march, The Art Place in the city centre is hosting a dedicated placard making workshop this Sunday 15 June from 1pm. You can come along for free to design and paint your own colourful placard to bring along on the Pride march, while chatting away with other attendees. Materials are provided for free, but you’re welcome to bring along your own supplies.

The day after the march, young people can pop back to The Art Place for their next monthly LGBTQ+ Youth Group session, where 13-19-year-olds can find a safe space to connect with other LGBTQ+ individuals and express their creativity together. Run by The Outhouse Youth Project, each session features different activities and talking points and is free to attend.

The Art Place hosts LGBTQ+ meet ups throughout the whole year. Check out what’s coming up on their Eventbrite page.

City centre murals from Chelmsford For You

Chelmsford For You is marking Pride month with a colourful mural trail in shop windows across the city centre again this year. Local creatives have already been working away on designing and painting celebratory and educational artworks, with the first murals now complete and more to follow in the coming days.

Colourful murals are appearing in the city centre for Pride 2025.

The window murals can be found along the Pride march route, creating a visual representation of Chelmsford’s support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Glitz and Glamazons at Chelmsford Theatre

Later in the month, comedian Suzi Ruffell is set to bring her brand-new tour ‘The Juggle’ to Chelmsford Theatre on Friday 27 June. Suzi will talk about the struggles of being good all the time and juggling her many roles as a mother, daughter, partner and comedian. It’s not just a standup show; it’s a support group.

The show is part of Chelmsford Theatre’s Glitz and Glamazons programme of events – a year-round home for dazzling drag, queer comedy, and gay icon tribute shows.

The series features even more brilliant LGBTQ+ acts set to appear at the theatre later this year, including RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz, comedian Stephen K Amos, and Fanny Galore’s Big Bingo Party.

Rhys Thomas says Chelmsford Theatre is proud to be a part of this year’s Pride celebrations in Chelmsford:

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“We’re thrilled to see Chelmsford hosting the county’s Pride festivities once again in 2025. Events for Pride month are not simply fun activities; they are important moments for our communities to come together to uplift and inspire one another, celebrating all our differences and pushing for equality for all.

“Chelmsford Theatre is committed to providing varied entertainment for all and so we are delighted to be offering events this Pride month and throughout the year for our LGBTQ+ community. We’re looking forward to next Saturday, when our team will be out in force at Essex Pride to celebrate love and tolerance together.”

Rhys Thomas, Chelmsford Theatre Director