By Mabel Wellman.
On the 9th May 2026, Winchester had its first ever Winchester Pride. This was a dazzling display put on from a variety of acts which led to a good turnout from all corners of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The event was based around the steps up to the Guildhall and part of Broadway which was closed. Entertainers used the steps of the Guildhall as a stage, where Winchester Pride had a number of local acts such as Misty Lee, Swan Samba and Jack Trinder.
Local politicians also gave speeches before the march took off. This included the MP for Winchester Danny Chambers, Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Sudhakar Achwal and the leader of Winchester City Council Cllr Martin Tod. It was very inspiring to see how enthusiastic they were to have their first Pride event in Winchester since the “Hampshire Pride” events a decade ago.
With the final councils declaring their election results today, we face a very new political landscape across Hampshire and the UK which is scary for some, so it was very empowering to see such important politicians in Winchester show their support.
It was obvious a huge amount of work was carried out in the background to make Winchester Pride happen this year. Organisers did attempt to have the event last year, but according to their Instagram page “unforeseen circumstances” got in the way in 2025.
The only criticism I could give this year was that the Pride event was only announced seven weeks in advance, and because of the last minute announcement there were only a small number of stalls (around 10), and a smaller turnout than could have been achieved with more notice.
The event itself however, was very well organised both with the road closures to create the space for the main event as well as for the march route, and the performers booked in. Due to the “last minuteness” of the event this year it did mean that the Winchester Pride social media posts were then all crammed together to ask for volunteers, sponsors, and donations almost daily back to back. I can only imagine that this comes from the organisers overcoming the operational challenges last year to make sure that Pride finally returned to Winchester.
Overall, the organisers and volunteers of Winchester Pride 2026 should be very proud of themselves for their successful event. Pride has returned to Winchester in a truly fabulous fashion.
Follow Winchester Pride on social media to find out how to get involved with Winchester Pride in 2027.
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