Final touches are in place as Galway set to show its Pride

The final touches are being put to the 2016 Galway Pride Festival, which kicks-off on Monday with the raising of the Pride flag in Eyre Square and wraps up the following Sunday with the Corrib Princess cruise and closing party.

After the flag raising ceremony on Monday there will be an official launch party at the Harbour Hotel at 8pm, where details of the events for the week will be available.

“It’s great that we can come together and celebrate all things LGBT+” said Rob Partridge, one of the organisers of the mental health day, “but while we’ve got everyone’s attention let’s talk about the mental health of the LGBT+ community as well, because after all it’s good to talk,” he said.

It’s Good To Talk is one of the new campaigns launched by the National LGBT Helpline who are co-sponsoring this event along with OutWest, an LGBT+ support group in the west of Ireland.

There will be talks on Wednesday from Pat Hagarty of the West Sligo Family Resource Centre and Elena Vaughan from the HIV Stigma Study. Mr Hagarty’s talk, Finding the Words, will look at coming out and how parents can support a recently out child; while Ms Vaughan’s talk, The HIV Stigma Update, will also discuss the difference between being HIV+ and being ‘undetectable’.

On Thursday there’s a BTQIA+ Tea Party in The Secret Garden; while Pride Comedy will be staged at The Loft on Friday night, which will be hosted by Martin Ward and will feature Pat McDonnell, Joe Dowlin, and Katherine Lynch. The Comedy Club will be followed by a DTF Club Night.

The Pride parade takes place on Saturday, beginning from City Hall at 2pm, with blogger and actor James Patrice acting as Grand Marshall. The parade will make its way through the city to its finish point at The Spanish Arch, where there will be a family fun day with stalls and entertainment.

In the evening the entertainment moves to the Black Box where the Block Party kicks off and goes on throughout the night.

Details of all the events can found at www.galwaypridefestival.com