Pride festival was hottest ticket in town on a sweltering day
Pictured at the Carlow Pride Festival on Sunday were Leah White and Lilly Mae O'Brien Photos: Michael O'Rourke Photography
THIS year’s Carlow Pride Festival was held in sweltering conditions as Carlow recorded temperatures of 27.7 degrees in Oak Park on 12 July, the fourth highest temperature recorded in Ireland that day.
“We had a big turn-out, considering it was so hot. We weren’t expecting such a huge crowd and everyone stayed until the very end,” said John Paul Payne, who organised the Pride festival.
Before the festival began, there was a morning prayer service in St Mary’s Church themed around celebrating Carlow Pride. Carlow Pride has run every year since 2019, excluding the Covid pandemic years.
In total, 2,300 people attended the festival, which kicked off with the official town photograph outside Carlow College at 2pm. At 2.15pm, the parade began, with people making their way from Carlow College along the designated route through the town centre, which included College Street, Tullow Street, part of Dublin Street and Centaur Street.
For the second year, the parade route was called ‘Sally’s Rainbow Road’ in honour of Sally McDonald, the first-ever person to join the Carlow Pride Committee, who passed away last year. The parade route ended at Carlow Town Park, where the Pride village was located.
UNUM Technology Centre in Carlow donated the bunting that lined this year’s route.
“We had lots of smiles, lots of colour. The town looked amazing,” John Paul said.
From 2.30-6pm, there was an afternoon of performances hosted by Eddie McGuinness on the Yahoo stage. All of the performers were local artists and included Saol, Ari McEvoy, Macrua, Dance Republic, Mona Tone, Skarlet Fever, Sassy Heels, Tracey Weaker and Aidxng.
Representatives from the organisation Mammies for Trans Rights spoke on the main stage. “They gave a very powerful speech,” John Paul said.
The Pride village also featured two food trucks â Smokey Wheels and Cibo Carlow – along with ice cream and coffee vans. There were also several craft stalls. This year, while the main stage was sponsored by Yahoo, the Carlow Pride village was primarily sponsored by Carlow Credit Union with support from Fáilte Ireland, Carlow Co Council and Heritage Ireland.
At 6pm, the Carlow Pride village wrapped up and from 6.30pm Tully’s hosted the official after-party, which began with a DJ set by Sassy Heels, followed by a drag show and finishing with a performance by Bon Bon Burlesque.
“It was an evening full of joy, with lots of new friendships happening,” John Paul said.
