Texas brings down the stage at Pride Cymru’s 20th birthday

Pride Cymru celebrated its 20th birthday in style accumulating with show storming performances from Texas and Gok Wan.

The Scottish pop-rock band Texas, raised the roof during their performance with frontwoman Sharleen thanking the LGBT community for their contribution to the bands’ career.

The band gave it their all with hit songs like Say What You Want and I Don’t Want A Lover. To finish a successful performance off, the band covered Elvis Presley’s classic Suspicious Times.

Gian Molinu, Chair at Pride Cymru, said:

Sharleen Spiteri and the rest of the Texas band have given us one of the most amazing performances that we have ever had on the Pride Cymru stage. Their support for the LGBT+ community is fantastic and they were welcomed by an amazing crowd.”

Other performers included drag act Lola Lasagne, Liberty X and Welsh singer-songwriter Shellyann Evans. Tina Cousins, who was the first-ever headliner back in 1999 also returned to the main stage and reunited with 1999 hosts Dr. Bev and Miss Kitty.

Ending the evening was fashionista Gok Wan, spinning classic dance hits under a background of celebratory fireworks.

Gian Molinu, Chair at Pride Cymru, added:

It was also a great honour to have Tina Cousins back with us after she was our first headliner in 1999. I believe this has been one of the best evenings in our event’s history with a range of acts from Shellyann Evans to Liberty X and Lola Lasagne to Gok Wan. We couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere for this significant milestone.A big thank you goes to our British Sign Language interpreters, who signed throughout all performances on the Admiral main stage and Cabaret stage. They were full of energy and really helped to show what Pride Cymru is all about when it comes to inclusivity.”

With this year marking the twentieth anniversary of what is now known as Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend, this year was not only a celebration of how far the LGBT+ community has come but also a reminder how in some aspects little has changed as people who identify as LGBT+ continue to face hate crime and exclusion.

On Sunday, there will be a throwback to the 90s and 00s as Atomic Kitten and Samantha Mumba will perform on the Admiral main stage.