Dundee was a sea of rainbows on Saturday 21st September as an amazing 14,000 people of all ages turned out for the city’s second Pride event.
This is the first Dundee Pride that The McManus had taken part in and there was a real buzz of excitement from staff, volunteers, visitors, members of our choir in residence ‘Loadsaweeminsingin’ and our Youth Action Group.
After weeks of planning and preparations, the day finally arrived and there was already a joyous atmosphere in the City Centre from 10am.
We kick-started the celebrations out on the museum’s terrace inviting people of all ages to make some colourful creations to accessorize themselves ahead of the parade with our freelance artist team. Meanwhile in our café we hosted our first ever ‘Drag Brunch’. Visitors were treated to a hilariously entraining drag performance from the fabulous Buttercup Buffay and Natalie Caramelli!
Our visitors and café regulars enjoyed a slice of rainbow cake before the entire audience rose to their feet to all join Buttercup and Natalie dance to ‘The Macarena’!!
As the parade began to make its way around to the McManus, some of our staff members, visitors and members of our in-house choir ‘Loadsaweeminsingin’ gathered outside the front of the museum to cheer on the parade and show their support. Our Youth Action Group showcased the Pride Banners they had created alongside our partnering young people for the event, ‘LGBT Youth Scotland’. There was a real feeling of joyfulness and positivity as the carnival of colour passed The McManus, many in colourful costumes and holding up homemade placards!
Once the Parade passed The McManus our artist team and The Youth Action group proudly joined the procession as it made its way down to Slessor Gardens. All art supplies were transported in our very own ‘Pridemobile’ (a shopping trolley fully decked out in rainbow attire of course!) We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the ‘Youth Zone’ doing what we do best… Getting Creative!! Throughout the course of the afternoon a whopping 800 people visited the youth zone where young visitors relaxed in the ‘Chill-out’ area, enjoyed using a pop-up make-up and nail bar, and got hands on and imaginative with arts and crafts actives.
Following on from our first Dundee Pride event, The McManus is really excited to announce that we are beginning a new venture working in partnership on a Heritage Lottery fund with the incredible ‘Shaper Caper’. ‘Here. Me. Out. is a FREE yearlong project for young people exploring LGBT+ stories through film, dance, audio, make-up, music and oral history. The project is led by Shaper/Caper in partnership with The McManus and LGBT Youth Scotland.
For more information about how to get involved contact yolanda@shapercaper.com
Feedback from visitors to ‘Get Your Pride On at The McManus’
‘I loved the positive energy of pride and it was amazing to see The McManus supporting it!! Can’t wait for next year!’
‘This year’s pride was amazing! The support for the LGBT community is clearly growing and the future is brightly coloured!’
‘What a brilliant day! Had an amazing time at the drag brunch! So well organised and great fun! Well done everyone!’
Feedback from McManus Youth Action Group
‘Pride was very enjoyable and it made me feel part of a community!’
I loved that I could use art with YAG to express my support for people!’
McManus Creative Learning 