The late May Bank Holiday once again saw me travelling up to Birmingham for the annual pride event. With excellent weather, it was great to see so many pups out and about … and so many other people too. It’s a bit strange being asked by the Chief Constable of the police for a selfie though! With thanks to Wolfy and Halvor for organising the walk, I think the pictures of the day say more than I could in words!
There’s a selection of pictures of me… and a few of the rest of the pups too!
Apologies for this post being so late… I’ve been so manic recently that I haven’t had time to write the post or get some of the photos edited.
The late May Bank Holiday weekend saw me going to Birmingham to join in Birmingham Pride, as I’ve done for the last few years. Thankfully, the weather was a lot better than I was expecting, as the early forecast was for rain… and I go a bit see-through in the rain!
I joined the Midlands Pups walking group again who were, perhaps ironically, placed behind The Dogs Trust walking group. This caused some amusement in the crowd but we didn’t really get up to any mischief – although I did manage to get a snappy wristband!
The parade, as ever, was enjoyable and the crowd fantastic. I managed to do quite a bit of it on all 4s, but not all of it as most years. I do prefer to do it on all 4s but sometimes, needs must… from the pictures, it also looks like I had a sleep half way through!
After the parade had finished, and after queuing to get the wristband, I went in to the village to have a wander round and also to join @Puppai_Buumi‘s Club Scritches outside Clonezone. Buumi roped me in to helping him with a contest as well for the pups that were there, so we had some fun with that as well 🙂
I had a little rest here as well, but for some reason I seemed to end up half in the tent and half outside it!
During the time in the village, I also took a wander around, looking at what else was happening and posing for photos with people as they requested. The village had a different layout this year, which meant things weren’t quite in the same place, but it was still enjoyable and I ended up chatting to a few people – including the Chief Constable who was quite cheerful!
Of course, as is becoming traditional – Spot had to go on the funfair!
As I got off the funfair ride, a couple of the staff came up and asked if they could have some photos with me as well as they aw my owner taking some as well.
I’ve still got a post to write about the remaining part of my holiday, but as Colin has published some of his photos tonight of Birmingham Pride, I thought I’d best write a blog post about it.
This year’s pride followed not long after the Manchester Bombing and that meant there was an increased police presence on the streets around the start of the parade – but that didn’t mean to say they weren’t getting in to the spirit of things – and their Chief Constable even posed with the Pup Group for a photo – and tweeted it!
We also had a chat with people from The Dog’s Trust before the parade, as they had a giant dog at their float.
It was also suggested that we form a Pride Rainbow out of the pups – so that was soon organised!
As we approached the start of the parade, a minutes silence was held in memory of those that had been affected by the events earlier in the week, and this was a very eerie moment. However, as soon as it was finished, the parade was underway.
The parade set off, following the same route as previous years, and as usual there was the usual good natured fun as we went down the streets. Thankfully, it wasn’t quite as busy as last year, but also the puppy group were still getting attention off the crowd.
Thankfully, the weather held out – although if the wind was blowing it could be kind of cool – but as usual, it was great fun to walk in the parade with everyone.
Enjoy the photos of the walk on this post – there will be another blog post to come from when Colin and I went in to the events in the village.
*woofs*
Spot
The 25th of June saw me participating in this year’s London Pride, leading the mixed walking group featuring Puppy Pride & Pup Social. This year, I was again accompanied by Caz and Wayne from E-Stim Systems, with Caz holding my lead while Colin was taking photographs.
With a change in starting point this year, we had to find our way to a different station on the Underground. As we were getting in to the lifts at Regent’s Park, a member of the public in the queue behind us recognised me from the TV documentary, so while waiting on the lift, and travelling up, we had a chat about pup stuff. Part of the reason for being so early was there had been a change in system this year, and walkers were to be issued Wristbands by the group organisers, so we arrived early to pick up our wrist bands.
Next on the agenda was to go and get some water and snacks for the duration of the wait and the walk to make sure we didn’t dehydrate etc. as we were walking around. As we wandered off to get a drink and a bite to eat in the nearest cafe, I was stopped on the way by someone who recognised me from the TV documentary again.
We assembled at the new starting point, and like usual, we waited… and waited… and waited. Eventually, the group set off down the road following the rest of the parade participants. Much like normal, this was very stop & start, but during the time a number of people watching at the sides kept recognising me and shouted at me, and that lasted the whole route.
As we finished, we gathered for a whole group shot of the pups that had participated, and it was at this point the sheer volume of pups & handlers that had participated became apparent with the size of the assembled group!
After goodbyes were said, we retired to town and Five Guys with me still in my pup outfit – it’s just a shame the O2 store I went in to had stopped the “Be More Dog” campaign!
The late May Bank Holiday weekend saw the annual pride festival in Birmingham, and unlike last year, I didn’t need to leave quickly this year which meant I could enjoy more of the day. Birmingham Pride was also the first event after the TV Documentary was shown… which meant it was going to be an interesting day!
Unusually, this time, I joined the Midlands Pups Walking Group and actually walked in the parade this year. While the parade is not as long as London, I was not able to complete as much of it on all 4s as I’d have liked due to the weather being particularly hot. However, it was a good time and people definitely recognised me from the documentary – with people from the crowds recognising me and shouting at me. I did my best to see as many of them as possible.
After the parade, and a quick bit of food and drink we did our usual walk around the actual Event Village… if we’d thought it was hectic and chaotic in the past, that was nothing compared to this year – given people were recognising me from the TV. I could barely walk 20 metres without someone wanting a photo 🙂
As has become semi-traditional, I found the fun fair in the village and had to go on that – fully dressed up of course!
