'United in this together': Limerick Pride Festival returns for 2025!

“UNITED in this together”  is the theme of this year’s Limerick Pride Festival, returning from July 7 to 13.

While Pride is a week-long celebration of all those in LGBTQIA+ communities, the showstopper to mark the festival each year tends to be the Limerick Pride Parade. 

This year’s Pride parade is taking place on Saturday, July 12, and will see hundreds march through the heart of Limerick and culminate in a celebratory Pridefest behind the Hunt Museum from 3pm to 6pm. 

This is a family-friendly event and will feature live music, performances, free kids’ face painting, and the beloved Tea Dance with Myles Breen.

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Tonie Walsh’s announcement as Grand Marshall of the parade is a celebration of his legacy as well as his ongoing commitment to LGBTQIA+ visibility and activism. The Grand Marshall is well-known in the community and beyond for his early involvement with the National LGBT Federation, the National LGBT Archive, and his work with Gay Community News (GCN).

Tonie wanted to give the message that Pride isn’t just an “ opportunity” for people to “show off their finest for one day of the year” but the message and history is a lot more than that. 

Tonie said: “These important festivals aren’t just about a fabulous opportunity for Limerick queers to show off their finest for one day of the year. It’s about all of the city embracing what we’re offering and coming with us on our journey. That’s really important.”

While there will be an array of events throughout the week, highlights also include a concluding Climax Party at Dolans on Saturday, July 12, where all three rooms will come alive with entertainment headlined by Kyran Thrax, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and a live performance by the world’s leading Britney Spears impersonator.

Lisa Daly, festival director of Limerick LGBTQ Pride 2025 said: “We are thrilled to be back and able to offer a fantastic weeklong lineup of events which we will continue to add to our website and socials in the coming weeks. 

“We have just celebrated 10 years of Marriage Equality in Ireland but people in our community are still being discriminated against so when we march up O’Connell Street for the parade, this year we will be united toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law. 

“We are seeking to illuminate the good that can and has been accomplished through uplifting and supporting one another.”

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Limerick could play host to up to 100,000 people for the biggest Pride event ever to be held on the Island of Ireland with Europride 2028. 

Attracting over 100,000 people annually from around the world, EuroPride is hosted by a different European city each year. The joint bid to host the prestigious event in Limerick and Clare has been submitted by Limerick LGBTQ+ Pride, QuareClare, and The Outing Queer Arts Collective & Festival. 

The host location for EuroPride 2028 will be announced later this year.

Richard Lynch, PRO of Limerick Pride said: “This movement can’t happen with one or two people, we need to be all together, our allies and our whole city. Even throughout the world, we need to stand by our communities and represent them all. 

“That’s why having Tonie as Grand Marshall this year is amazing, he is such a trailblazer who has been there from the start. I think that needs to be a reminder to people. This year, we’re fighting from the beginning all over again for our rights.”