| Frequency: | annually |
| Location: | Bournemouth |
| First: | 2004 |
Bourne Free is an annual pride festival in Bournemouth, England.
The festival was established in 2004[1] when a far right organisation was due to come to Bournemouth to demonstrate against homosexuality. Many prominent figures and active members of the LGBT community in the area came together to organise an event in the Lower Gardens to defend LGBT people from the event and create a day of celebration rather than hostility.
The event included entertainment at The Bandstand, a balloon release with a two-minute silence for victims of hate crime, and Bournemouth's first Gay Pride march. The Bourne Free committee that had organised the event continued organising Bourne Free as an annual charity event. In 2006, event was renamed as the Bourne Free Pride Festival.
In 2008 the Pride Parade moved onto the streets of Bournemouth. An estimated more than 4,000 people attended the event that year.[2]
In 2020 the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event returned in person in 2021.[3] [4]
Themes for the event include "Paint the World with your Pride" (2019) and "Stronger Together" (2021).[5]
The theme for 2024 was intended to be "Eurovision" but the organisers scrapped this theme due to the Israel–Hamas war, and controversy around Israel's participation in the Eurovision contest.[6] The theme for 2024 was ultimately changed, with the website stating "There is no theme this year. Be you - the vibrant, colourful, beautiful, YOU!"[7]