Plans for a new Pride music night in London Colney, Hertfordshire have been abandoned after organisers said repeated acts of vandalism raised concerns about safety.
The Loud & Proud event, due to be held at Shirley’s Roadhouse on 20 June, was intended to be a small-scale celebration of LGBTQ+ pride, featuring tribute performances to pop stars including Christina Aguilera, Elton John and Britney Spears. However, organisers said promotional banners for the event were torn down twice outside the venue.
Councillor Liz Needham, who helped organise the event, said the damage appeared to be targeted. Replacement banners were removed while signage for other events remained in place, she said, leaving organisers with little confidence the event could go ahead safely.
“I genuinely thought we’d moved past this,” Needham said. “This was meant to be a welcoming, family-friendly celebration, but the actions of a few people have made that impossible.”
In a statement shared online, organisers said the decision to cancel had been made reluctantly, citing the need to protect staff, performers and ticket-holders. They said the cost of additional security needed to mitigate the risk would have made the event financially unviable.
Needham said the cancellation sent a worrying message to LGBTQ+ residents in the area. “It’s upsetting to think that an event celebrating people’s lives and identities can’t take place because of hostility,” she said, adding that many messages of support had been received since the announcement.
The incident comes amid a number of recent reports of Pride-related vandalism elsewhere in the country. Despite the setback in London Colney, organisers confirmed that Herts Pride will still go ahead as planned at Cassiobury Park in Watford on 22 August.
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