Jane's Midlife Journey

Bourne Free is Bournemouth’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebration. I lived in Bournemouth for several years before actually going to Bourne Free, mainly because I used to live in London, where the Pride Parade is so massive that I felt that anything else could only be an anti climax.

The festival consists of three separate events over one weekend. On Friday, there is a free Family Fun Night. On Saturday, there is a Parade through Bournemouth, culminating in a concert, Pride the Park, at Meyrick Park.

Each year, the festival adopts a theme. In 2022, the theme was Bourne Free goes Green with a focus on being environmentally friendly. To keep with that ethos, the parade was pedestrian only. In 2023, the theme was Pride without Prejudice and diesel was no longer taboo. In 2024, the theme was initially Eurovision. This was dropped last minute due to the Eurovision Song Contest’s decision not to remove Israel from the competition. This year, organisers are playing it safe and there is no theme.

How to Get to Bourne Free

The Family Fun Night and the main festival take place in Meyrick Park, which is just to the north of Bournemouth town centre. By bus, alight at Bournemouth Square and walk up through the Gardens, turning right by the Town Hall, then walk alongside the park until you reach the entrance (or the start of the queue).

The parade runs through Bournemouth, starting on the East Cliff, then up through the town centre ending at Meyrick Park.

Parking

Not the easiest place to park. The north of the park is lined with residential streets, where you might stumble upon a space. Parking near the venue is restricted to those with a disability.

Dates

The event takes place annually over a weekend in July. Friday is Family Fun Night, which runs from 4.30 pm until 9.30 pm.

Then on Saturday, there is the Parade through the town centre starting at 11 am. Followed by the main festival in the afternoon/evening. Theoretically, this runs from midday, but it depends on how long it takes for the parade to arrive, ending at 10.30 pm.

• In 2025, the dates are 11th/12th July
• 2026 dates TBA

Price

• Family Fun Night is a free, ticketed event. To ensure entry, you can book online in advance.
• The parade is free to watch/join.
• The main festival costs £22 for adults. (There is an early bird price of £18 up until Easter). Booking in advance will possibly reduce the amount of time you need to queue upon arrival. Under 14s are free, but must leave the site by 7 pm. Tickets can be obtained here.

Family Fun Night

The free Family Fun Evening of entertainment includes fairground rides, face painting, pop corn and candy floss as well as a programme of live music.

Bourne Free Parade

The Parade starts on the East Cliff at 11 am on Saturday, then follows a route through central Bournemouth finishing in Meyrick Park. Theoretically, this should take around an hour. Spectators are advised to head to Westover Road for the best view. 

If you want to join the parade, there is a form to complete on the website.

Pride in the Park

The main Bourne Free event, Pride in the Park, moved to Meyrick Park from the centre of Bournemouth in 2022. Although it’s great to be in such a glorious location with loads of space, there were a few teething problems. There was only one entrance; at the top end of the park, the furthest point from the town centre, which required a long walk up the hill. The queue to get in was enormous. Those who had paid in advance, but needed to collect a wristband and people who hadn’t bought a ticket yet, all queued together in a very long line. People were complaining on social media that they had to queue for up to two hours!

Once finally inside, I met up with some friends. As we’re all getting on a bit, we came prepared with chairs and settled down in front of the stage to enjoy the entertainment.

It was very hot and we were not allowed to bring drinks on site. There was free water, but it was dispensed from tanks placed in the sun, so was very warm. Hence, the only way to keep cool was to drink cider. (Note: This isn’t strictly true, they did sell soft drinks at the bar, but they were £2 a can. My logic is that if I’m going to have to pay a lot for a drink, it might as well be cider!) Organiser addressed this issue in 2023 by introducing a Shade Tent – perfect for sheltering from the torrential rain! And allowing guests to bring their own less tepid water.

Most of the acts came courtesy of a scour through the back catalogue of either Britain’s Got Talent or The X Factor, neither of which I have watched for many years.

The 2022 highlight was Anthony Costa from boy band Blue, who delighted the audience (well certainly my section of the audience – straight middle aged ladies) singing his way through a back catalogue of Blue’s top hits. After the performance, he came to the front of the stage for a meet and greet and spent a long time chatting to fans and posing for selfies. Much to our excitement! The main attraction for 2025 is another member of a popular noughties group; Bradley from S Club 7.

In addition to the music stage, there are plenty of other things to do. There are fairground rides, food stalls and stalls selling things or handing out freebies – mainly rainbow stickers. I got a tea towel with instructions on how to put out a fire from a rainbow fire engine.

The afternoon progressed with a succession of singers and dancers and drag queens. And cider! There were sporadic issues at the bar, where the tills kept losing the ability to take card payments. Every now and again, they became cash only and people who actually had cash were ushered to the front of the queue.

Despite not being in the same league as London’s Pride, we had a great day out with great entertainment, a wonderful atmosphere, and did I mention the cider?

When I wrote the above paragraph in 2022, I ended with the words “I shall definitely be back next year”. In actual fact, the weather for the 2023 was absolutely atrocious and it peed down with rain for much of the day. In addition, the headline act was East 17. With a string of hits in the 90s, this aging boy band is after my time. In 2024, more terrible weather and the headliner was Katrina (formerly of Katrina and the Waves). I decided neither of these warranted spending £20 to get soaked to the skin in a field. In 2025, the weather was glorious. But in a packed weekend of events, I had tickets to the the sand polo…

Bourne Free for Children

As mentioned above, Friday is Family Fun Night, when it’s all about the kids with a range of activities to keep them entertained. There are fairground rides, face painting and family friendly entertainment including a family disco.

On Saturday, children will enjoy watching the colourful parade.

They may attend the festival during the day, but must leave the site by 7 pm. So, as an adult, you’re paying for a ticket but have to leave long before the top acts perform.

Note: It can be quite loud and there is very limited shelter. If you’re taking small children, ear defenders and a parasol/umbrella might be a good idea.

• Updated: July 2025

I hope you found this information useful. For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth here.

For more inspiration on things to do in and around Bournemouth with young children, check out my 101 Things to do in Bournemouth with Babies and Toddlers here.