When I think of Pride events, places such as London, Manchester and Brighton usually come to mind. Chesterfield would not previously have appeared in my top ten.
Chesterfield is somewhere I would normally pass through on the way to the Peak District rather than visit for an event. I had never considered attending Pride there and did not expect the town to have a particularly large LGBTQ+ community. When some friends invited me along, I had no other plans, so I decided to give it a try with fairly low expectations.
It turned out that I had underestimated it completely.
Chesterfield Pride 2022
Chesterfield Pride took place at Stand Road Park on 24 July 2022. The event was held within an enclosed area and appeared to be well organised. That layout also helped the event feel safe and contained without losing the relaxed atmosphere you want from a Pride celebration.
Tickets bought on the day cost £10. We had purchased advance VIP tickets for around £20 each, which included access to a private bar, private toilets and an area at the front of the main stage. For us, the extra cost was worthwhile, particularly once the headline performances began.
Stages, stalls and food
The line-up included Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud, Jo O’Meara from S Club 7, Joe Black and Deniece Pearson from Five Star.
There were two performance areas: the main stage, sponsored by Chesterfield Borough Council, and a cabaret stage. The site also had a market area with food stalls and stands from organisations including the National Trust, Midlands Co-op, Chesterfield Council and Sheffield Vulcans RUFC.
We arrived at around 12.30pm and started by walking through the market area. It was a useful way to get our bearings before settling in for the afternoon, as the event offered more than just the main-stage performances.
The bar and cabaret tent
Our next stop was the bar, where we spent a few hours having drinks and enjoying the atmosphere. Event bars can sometimes charge heavily inflated prices, but the prices here seemed relatively reasonable. Three drinks cost £10, while a double spirit cost £5.
We also spent a lot of time in the cabaret tent. We were enjoying it so much that we missed several of the earlier performers on the main stage, including Mama Bear, Kelly Wilde, KY Kelly, Dene Michael, Nathan Moore of Brother Beyond and Black Lace.
Main-stage performances
We reached the main stage in time to see Jo O’Meara get the crowd moving with familiar pop songs, including the S Club 7 hits most people had come hoping to hear.
Kelly Llorenna followed and lifted the energy again with her club hits. Joe Black, one of the standout performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race, appeared next. We had already seen him in the cabaret tent and enjoyed the performance enough to watch him for a second time.
Deniece Pearson was the penultimate performer. She arrived in a colourful outfit that would not have looked out of place at a carnival and performed Five Star songs including System Addict, Stay Out of My Life and Rain or Shine.
This was my favourite part of the day. I was a big Five Star fan and still listen to their greatest hits, so hearing those songs performed live was a personal highlight. Deniece’s vocals were excellent throughout the set.
Nadine Coyle closed the event. Wearing a pink mac that suited the weather, she performed her solo single Go to Work alongside several Girls Aloud songs, including Sound of the Underground, Biology, Sexy! No No No…, Something Kinda Ooooh and my favourite, Untouchable.
It was a strong finish to the day and left me hoping that a Girls Aloud reunion tour might eventually follow.
Was Chesterfield Pride worth attending?
I arrived at Chesterfield Pride expecting a fairly small local event and was pleased to be proved wrong. It was well organised, friendly and far more entertaining than I had anticipated.
It ended up being one of the most enjoyable Pride events I had attended. Chesterfield Pride had gone from somewhere that was not on my radar to an event I would happily attend again.