Thank You For Supporting Wexford Pride 2025!
On Saturday 31st May we gathered in Wexford Art’s Centre for a Pride in the ‘Park’ celebration like no other! Not to be deterred by the Irish summertime showers and gusts our annual Pride celebration was relocated to Wexford Arts Centre, ensuring this important celebration could continue as planned, albeit a little differently!
Wexford Pride would like to extended our sincerest gratitude to the staff at Wexford Arts Centre, particularly Elizabeth, Pauline and Olchin who supported getting everything in place so swiftly. The response that followed from our Pride in the Park acts, vendors, community organisations and volunteers spoke to the values that have always underpinned Wexford Pride in the Park (and our actions more generally) that create the conditions for community-led events like Pride possible!
We want to express our thanks for the continued support of Wexford County Council, Neuropride Ireland, the Order of Malta, Joe from IT Tech Productions, Wexford and Enniscorthy Amenity & Arts Grant Schemes. Thank you to all who made donations in support of our fundraising raffle on the day including Wexford Book Centre, Active Tribe, Rosslare Community & Sports Centre, Pirates Cove, Monart Destination Hotel & Spa, Wexford Book Centre, Johnstown Castle, My Jewller and Mandy Wood Crafts. A special thank you to Alissa Rosenfelder for designing this year’s Pride in The Park poster and billboard!
Each year we’re delighted to embrace the opportunity to platform local and emerging talent from across Co.Wexford! A congratulations to our wonderful line-up who provided our soundtrack to the day including Johnny O'Brien, Bloco Gorman, 12 Guage Outrage, The Quay Notes, The Zonai, Andrei Boyd, Redder Herring, Wexford Pride Queer Chorus, Mz Red Dear, Lilli Luna, Make & Luke and Ovalords.
Wexford Pride was delighted to welcome back Poppy DeScrace & Disgraceful Cabaret for this years’ Pride After Partu in Wexford Art’s Centre featuring a fabulous line-up of king's, queens, things & burlesquers including Poppy Descrace, Asher B Grant, José Mové, Gaylor Swift, Sionna Seanchaí and Chronic QT!
Our Pride market provides a focal point for our celebration, highlighting the best of in-community and allies creativity! Due to space constraints our pride market was slightly smaller this year. We want to thank the local vendors and small businesses who took time to prepare in the lead up to the event and those that joined us on the day!
Pride in the Park is made possible through the support of volunteers who contribute their time, energy and skills in preparation for and during the day’s celebrations - this generosity of time and spirit is invaluable! Wexford Pride would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to each person who’s efforts together made the day such a success.
The Importance of Rural LGBTQIA+ Pride
As Wexford Pride, throughout all of our community work, we remain connected to the essence of Pride - a movement fighting for social change for LGBTQIA+ people to live authentically free from oppression, inequality and exclusion. This includes working in solidarity with communities that intersect with ours and share the same struggle. When we come together in solidarity with others to challenge injustice and secure human rights, we pave the way for a fairer, inclusive world for all.
Our annual Pride celebration is a key moment for Co.Wexford’s LGBTQIA+ community and our allies to come together in solidarity to celebrate, connect and highlight the experiences of our community. As pride celebrations continue throughout the country across the summer, rural pride celebrations provide a vital outlet for LGBTQIA+ people living beyond larger cities or urban areas. For many, it may be their first time to express themselves in a safe space surrounded by other queer people.
It signifies more than a fun day out but a vital lifeline for solidarity, friendship and community building oftentimes inaccessible living in rural-urban areas. As we witness a continued growth in transphobia and queer-phobia globally, it is vital that these efforts are supported and translated into meaningful change where people from marginalized communities are recognised, valued and included as part of the fabric of their community.
Feedback Survey
As Pride in The Park grows, we’re always looking for ways to improve the experience of our community and allies each year. If you attended this year’s event, we want to hear from you! You can fill out our short Pride in The Park 2025 feedback survey through this link: https://forms.gle/vdd7WVwEJHjNqJaz9. All feedback is anonymous and will only be used for the purpose of reviewing and improving future Wexford Pride events and community spaces.
Pride in the Park Photo Call-Out
We want to capture our incredible community and you can support us by submitting your pride photos to info@wexfordpride.ie with the subject ‘Pride in The Park 2025 - Photo Callout’. In submitting your photos/videos you are agree that:
You are the owner or have credited the owner of the photo/video being submitted
Consent has been sought from those featured within the photo/video prior to submission
You consent for them to be kept for archival and promotional purposes. The owner will retain the rights to their photos/videos and will be appropriately credited should they be used.
How to Support Wexford Pride
Wexford Pride is a voluntary community organisation led by and for the LGBTQIA community in Co.Wexford. We do not receive annual funding from corporate or political bodies, this supports our ability to ensure the integrity of our work in line with our values and principles. As such, we rely on voluntary work and donations to support our work. This includes annual events like Pride in The Park and weekly community initiatives including peer support, community group spaces, the publication of our bi-monthly queer culture zine Aiteach and our website. If you would like to support our work you can now donate by visit wexfordpride.ie/donate.
Keep Up To Date
You can keep up to date by signing up to our monthly newsletter via our website wexfordpride.ie or by following us on social media @WexfordPride. To learn about upcoming peer support groups, community spaces and events visit our community calender.
Wexford Pride 2025 Committee
Mary West (Treasurer, she/her), John Cunningham Ryan (Secretary, he/him), Veronica Victor (Community Liaison, she/her), Rían Browne (Public Relations Officer, he/him), CC Darlington (Open Committee Member, they/them), Spud Byrne (Open Committee Member, they/them) and Andrei Boyd (Open Committee Member, he/him)
