A favourite holiday destination for many Brits, Benidorm got into the pink spirit and held its very first Pride celebration this year. So, we sent our international gal about town Stephanie Starlet to see what Benidorm Pride 2011 had to offer…

As the inaugural Benidorm Pride, organisers may have expected a bigger attendance, having been moved from the beach to the huge and beautiful Julio Iglesias Park, an outdoor amphitheatre.

The addition of two stages spread across the centre ensured artists were kept busy. The best of those was definitely the Queens Hotel stage, ran by festival organiser, the legendary Julia Grant.

Made famous from one of the first fly-on-the-wall documentaries back in the late 70s for gender re-assignment, and later went on to run Gayfest in Manchester, which was renamed Manchester pride in 2003.

Gran Canaria Pride’s Adam Kennedy was also directing Benidorm, and presented a fantastic event. The Artists performing, apart from myself, included Sonia, Angie Brown, Soraya, Jason Prince, Kelly Wilde, Female Trouble, Diva Bliss, Mandy Gap, Jo Frances, Teresa Marie, Zoe, Sleazesisters, Nicki French, Boy Banned, Massive Ego, Sam Celeste, Eva la Diva and then some!

Stages were hosted by John Barry and DJ/Producer Ross Alexander, and the entertainment was incredible!
A welcome party dinner was held on the penthouse roof of the Queens; passes allocated and many a drink drank!

“…a lot of Prides have a tough act to follow with this one!”

The atmosphere was down-to-earth, friendly and extremely international, with many coming from Germany, Holland, France and Britain. The weather was lovely apart from on the last night of Mr Gay Benidorm when the heavens opened and poured!

The ‘Underground club’ was to host the coolest parties, with scores of sexy muscle boys, while others chose to hit the smaller, more intimate gay village bars that run until the very early hours .

The gay village is in the very beautiful Old Town and, unlike other festivals, culture is prevalent and tapas bars co exist with egg and chips to provide a social cocktail diverse enough to please all.

A highlight for me, apart from performing, was meeting up with my friend Derren Litten, writer of TV comedy series ‘Benidorm’. He took me to a very hot northern-style Karaoke bar where my tonsils were tested and liver put to the test! He takes all the ‘Loose Women’ up here! I am much looser than most and we ended up at a bear bar hammered!

The Parade was a hoot and costumes fabulously lavish, as families and children joined in. The atmosphere was wonderful, and the parade sashayed to the park where Julia and the Mayor officially opened Pride.

Flights to Alicante are just two hours and cheap, Accommodation is as sumptuous as you want to go, I booked a chic apartment on the seafront. I’d recommend a holiday in Benidorm whether it’s pride or not, but do make a point of supporting this fantastic event and add Benidorm Pride on Facebook.

Although the first of its kind, a lot of Prides have a tough act to follow with this one! Viva Espana!

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