2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Pride South Lanarkshire gets VisitScotland funding boost to expand festival
The event will be returning to Hamilton town centre on Saturday, August 2.
Pride South Lanarkshire has been awarded £10,934 of funding from VisitScotland.
The festival will be returning to Hamilton town centre on Saturday, August 2.
Organisers hope to create an even more ambitious and inclusive programme designed to uplift inspire, and unite people from across South Lanarkshire and beyond.
And the event will transform the town centre into a vibrant and welcoming space, filled with entertainment, community engagement and activities that celebrate LGBTQ+ culture.
Malcolm Thomas-Harley, co-director of Lanarkshire Pride, said: 'We are incredibly grateful for this funding, which supports us in expanding Pride South Lanarkshire 2025, creating an even more impactful and vibrant event alongside enabling a greater reach with our advertising.'
Funding for the event will go towards the addition of a third stage to help expand the programme, support towards securing a headline act and enhancing the event's digital advertising.
VisitScotland handed over the cash through the latest round of its EventScotland National Events Programme.
Pride South Lanarkshire is one of 23 events across 11 local authorities to benefit from £265,502 of funding from the National Events Programme, which helps support the deliver the National Events Strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage 2024-2035, through the strategic development of events which drive domestic tourism.
Awards between £5000 and £25,000 are given to live, public-facing sporting and cultural events that take place outside of the local authority areas of Edinburgh and Glasgow to help deliver innovative new projects and strategic development activity.
Taking place between May and October this year, the 23 events span a wide array of sporting and cultural activities from motor sports, traditional Highland Games, Pride celebrations and more.
From science festivals to music festivals, sporting events to food and drink experiences, and arts and literature to history events, there is something for everyone.
The announcement comes as the next round of funding (Round 54) for the National Events programme is now open for events taking place between November 1 this year and March 31, 2026.
Rob Dickson, director of industry and events at VisitScotland, said: 'Events play an important role in growing the value of Scotland's visitor economy. As a year-round destination, having a diverse and vibrant portfolio of events taking place across the country ensures there is something for everyone to enjoy when visiting, whether it's from the UK or overseas.
'We are pleased to be supporting Pride South Lanarkshire through our National Events Programme to help ensure that the benefits of tourism and events are felt locally, helping foster economic growth and reinforcing Scotland's reputation as a leading tourism and events destination.'
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