The Channel Islands’ biggest annual celebration of its LGBTQ+ population is due to return to Jersey on the longest day of this year – with acts including a former X-Factor winner, Fat Boy Slim’s son, and several UK drag stars.

Channel Islands Pride, which alternates annually between Jersey and Guernsey, coincides this year with the Summer Solstice on Saturday 21 June.

Celebrations are due to kick off at 13:00 with the Pride Parade, which starts in the Royal Square and finishes at People’s Park.

Attendees will be able to enjoy a wide range of food and music an event hosted by Jersey cabaret star Dr Adam Perchard.

Festival Director Christian May explained that this year’s tagline is ‘Louder. Prouder. Stronger.’.

“It’s a powerful and joyful way to mark a decade of Pride in Jersey – free, inclusive and unforgettable,” he said.

This year’s line-up…

Alexandra Burke

The Apex main stage’s headliner is Alexandra Burke, the 2008 X-Factor winner who in recent years achieved viral fame for her plans to bring the expression “the elephant in the room” to the UK through her song Elephant.

DJ Woody Cook

DJ Woody Cook is set to return for the third time.

The son of Fatboy Slim and Zoe Ball, DJ Woody Cook made it to the final round of Channel 4’s The Circle, balancing the TV show with his career as a DJ and his academic studies.

Beyond making music, he speaks at events and on screen about issues including sexuality, race and the environment.

He is also a CI Pride regular, having been described as “a huge crowd favourite” in 2022.

UK drag stars

UK drag queen Mercedes Bends – who performed at Eurovision – is set to bring “glamour, comedy and fierce performances” to the event, alongside Paige Three and Sophia Stardust.

Rhumba Club

Jersey-born Tom Falle, who now lives in London, makes music he describes as “an 80s pop aesthetic” that has evolved to include “more offbeat influences”.

Describing himself as “Synthesizer Gay™”, he is now on tour supporting Patrick Wolf in Berlin, Bologna, and across the UK.

Tom’s most recent single describes a feeling that many LGBTQ+ islanders will recognise: having left Jersey for London, he described “leaving behind a string of confusing teenage romances, and a fair amount of awkwardness surrounding [his] sexuality”.

Local acts

And there’s solid Jersey representation, with local drag artistes, the Jersey LGBTQ+ choir, singer-songwriter Shea, electro-pop artist Kingsy as well as disco-funk band Brick House.