This weekend all thoughts turn to the North West and it’s annual Pride celebration. Now in it’s fifth year the friendliest, most inclusive pride celebration in Ireland is always seeking new ways of celebrating and marking diversity and reaching out to local communities both lgbt and the ‘straight and not narrow’. Events will take place in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal

Trying to top the smallest town pride in the world from last year, this year’s Northwest Pride is seeking to create the biggest living rainbow flag.

We are asking all our friends and supporters to dress in one of the rainbow colours and help us make the Parade even more colourful. Alternatively, they could carry a flag in one of the rainbow colours – a single-colour flag is very easy to make. At some stage during the Parade, we hope to get all the people to group in order of colour and make the world’s first living rainbow flag.

That’ll be interesting – I better find something rainbowish to wear so.

The festival has received Arts Council funding this year and will be marking a number of new developments and significant achievements for lesbians and gay men throughout the region. There are new community and youth groups in Donegal and also in Mayo, a full time community development worker has been appointed through the LGBT Diversity Programme and NorthWest Pride has launched “ProudNet” a cross border initiative to reach out to isolated LGBT people in Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh.

Throughout the region this weekend there is a hill walk, an art exhibition, theatrical performances of newly commissioned work, a number of social events and a beach barbecue in Donegal complete with a welly throwing competition as well as the Parade through Sligo Town. More information on the programme can be found at NorthWest Pride. If you are planning on heading there yourself you’ll probably spot me trying to looking like a living rainbow flag or something. Come and say hello!