‘Scaled down’ Pride event to go ahead at city centre pub

The LonGBoat charity plans to hold a ‘scaled down’ indoor event at The New Union on Sunday (August 11).

The organisation applied to Wakefield Council for permission to close Southgate to hold a street music festival with an outdoor stage from 10am to 10pm.

West Police Yorkshire objected to the proposals.

Documents submitted to the council on behalf of the force said: “The grant is for a 12-hour event to take place on the public highway alongside a large, licensed premises, which also forms part of the planned event.

“Police and council licensing enforcement met with committee members of LonGBoaT Wakefield in October 2023.

“This included discussions and advice on what would need to be put in place for the event in August 2024.

“Since then, several meetings have taken place in relation to this event.

“Despite this, the organiser has left concerns raised unanswered.”

The proposals were withdrawn days before a licensing hearing was due to be held to determine the application on August 1 .

A statement on the charity’s website says : “Unfortunately, as some may know, the LonGBoaT Wakefield Community Pride event has been forced to cancel our main event stage once again.

“This disappointing news follows a similar 2023 refusal, after 18 brilliant years supporting Wakefield’s only LGBT+ venue and the whole community.

“Wakefield Council and other relevant bodies (through the Safety Advisory Group), have made several requests over the last six months.

“All of which LonGBoaT have met to ensure a safe event for our team and all attendees.

“However, representatives of West Yorkshire Police have deemed the site unsafe, in the event of a serious incident (the example given was a bomb threat) at The Ridings Shopping Centre, and it’s ability to evacuate the very high numbers of visitors it attracts on Sundays.

“LonGBoaT are proud of all the work our team of volunteers have put in to this year’s pride celebrations.”

LonGBoat chair David Swyer told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s disappointing but we felt we had to withdraw the application because of the late notice of the police objection.

“Our team has a lot of experience of organising the events.

“We have never had any major incidents, crime or violence.

“We have always kept it as a community vibe.”

Commenting on Sunday’s event, Mr Swyer added: “The only difference is that it’s indoors.

“All the acts that we had planned will be still performing.

“It’s essentially putting things on in the pub rather than having to have a road closure.

“There is still going to be a lot on in an entertaining fun-packed day.”