Highland Pride 2025 showed strength of community as number of people on march through Inverness city centre ticks into the thousands
Highland Pride’s chairman believes the 2025 edition of the event was a show of strength from the LGBTQ+ community in the north of Scotland.
More than 1100 people marched through Inverness city centre, led by a bagpiper and meeting the Cairngorm Pride Paddlers halfway through who rode along the River Ness to the Ness Bridge.
The procession continued to Eden Court, where information and vendor stalls awaited, before entertainment in the Empire Theatre which sold out of all 840 tickets.
Although wet weather threatened to put people off of the parade, the fact that so many people turned out – according to the charity – was evidence of people coming together in the truest sense of what a community is.
Highland Pride chairman Simon Allison reflected: “I’m delighted. It began slow – I think the rain put some of the early arrival off – but once the piper began playing and the sun came out it was a great day.
“At Eden Court we had a fantastic space outside where people could speak to Leap Sports and try out sports.
“Inside we’ve had some fantastic service providers talking about everything from autism through to nature, how to conserve energy in the home, all of which said they would be interested in working closer with Highland Pride and the wider LGBTQ+ community in the Highlands, so it has been great.
“I think that this has absolutely been the community showing up for the community.
“It’s demonstrably the power of people choosing to give their time generously to sponsor the event, or volunteer.
“We really couldn’t do it without this village of people all stepping forward at once to help us. We’ve had support from local businesses, Inverness BID, and then of course the splendid venue that is Eden Court, which was an amazing backdrop.
“We are so grateful that people have shown up in the way they have. It has been a lovely day.”
Allison has had extremely enthusiastic feedback from attendees, stall holders and staff members, with the police support group in particular telling him that they had specifically chosen to work the Saturday afternoon shift so that they could attend Pride.
All in all, then, it was something of a triumphant return to form for Highland Pride, who brought their entire event back together in one day after being forced to split their march and party in 2024 due to a lack of available facilities.
One thing that was notable was that there were other Pride groups in attendance. As well as charities like LGBT+ Youth Scotland and Leap Sports, Stepping Out – the group putting together the first ever Pride march in Caithness later this month – had a stall, as did one of the organisers of upcoming group Cairngorm Pride; and Pride In Moray chairman Bob Andrew also travelled through to the Highland capital to attend.
• RELATED: Watch Scotland’s only gay, male footballer answer common criticisms of LGBTQ+ visibility
Following on from the first ever Lochaber Pride last weekend too, Allison believes it is a formative moment for the Pride movement in the north of Scotland.
“The committee will have a month or two off before we really look at next year, but I want to work more closely with the other Pride groups to make sure that we co-ordinate our impact across a longer period of the year,” Allison added.
“Our rural communities and our city communities should all feel that love, and be given that visibility and sense of community.
“So many new groups being created in the Highlands is definitely a response (to the current landscape for the LGBTQ+ community).
“We must remember that Pride fundamentally is a protest. It is standing up and saying that until everybody is heard, there is huge inequality.
“We can’t just talk about diversity, we have to role model and make it happen.
“There are two new groups this year, and another will be emerging next year, and that is a fundamental sign that the community wants representation, and it wants to come together, participate and be visible.
“We want to have the same level of understanding as everyone else.”
