Salford Mad Pride 2019 a success despite terrible weather

Dreadful weather conditions failed to dampen the mood as hundreds celebrated Salford Mad Pride 2019 on Saturday.

Held for the second year at Victoria Park in Swinton, Mad Pride was opened by Salford Youth Mayor Mitchell Mullin and featured a range of performances from groups such as Salford City Singers and Salford Survivor Project.

The highlight of the afternoon was the Mental Health Mad Hatters Parade, which featured the Manchester School of Samba.

Event co-ordinator Sarah Whitehead could not have been happier with how the event unfolded, especially considering the torrential rainfall.

Whitehead said: “I think, considering the weather, we have still got a really good turnout.

“This is our second year doing Mad Pride. When we did it last year, we had no budget and we did not know what to expect, but 700 people attended.

“This year, we were expecting more. Obviously, the rain has affected that, but we have definitely had a really positive response from people who believe they need more community-led events like this.”

Volunteer lead Jayne Gosnall, who performed as part of Salford City Singers, spoke of how Mad Pride was a true celebration of the community, coming together to break the stigma surrounding mental health.

Gosnall said: “I think that it (Mad Pride) is more than just the day. It is the fact that everybody is getting involved in doing stuff at a really grassroots level- making things; building things; having conversations together.

“It is a real pulling together of lots of people who are like-minded, maybe not in every aspect of life, but definitely about this.

“We are singing from the same song sheet.”

Speaking shortly after opening the event, Youth Mayor Mitchell Mullin believes that Mad Pride can only help to spark greater mental health awareness in the Salford community.

Mullin said: “It has done it in the past, I am sure it can do it again.

“It is important that events like this help promote services and it makes sure young people and other people do get the help they need, when they need it.”