When many people think of Pride, they picture crowded streets, loud music and a little too much drinking.
But after four years serving on the Board of Pride in London, I began to feel there was space and a real need for something different to express new ways for our community to come together.
As we emerged from lockdown, many people in my sapphic community told me they were craving spaces centred around wellbeing, nature and the outdoors.
They wanted connection, but in a way that felt restorative rather than overwhelming and that’s how Out & Wild Festival was born.
From the beginning, sport has played an important role in the festival and, over the years, we’ve offered a wide range of activities including touch rugby, football, golf, archery, swimming, tennis and daily guided hikes. Last year, a group of attendees even took part in a local parkrun.
If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure sport would work in a festival setting, but it quickly became one of our most popular offerings.
As a festival created for queer women and non-binary people, we offer something many attendees struggle to find elsewhere – a genuinely safe and supportive environment in which to be active.
For many people, traditional sporting spaces can feel intimidating or exclusionary, but being surrounded by a supportive community makes all the difference.
At the same time, the festival is an opportunity for some to try something completely new – like wild swimming – whereas for others it’s about reconnecting with a sport they haven’t played in years, like football.
Whether it’s a team activity or an individual challenge, people participate together and that shared experience creates an immediate bond.
That matters, especially when more than 30% of our attendees come to Out & Wild on their own.
And because wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do, we’ve always understood the value of movement, not just for physical health, but for mental wellbeing too.
In fact, one of the most rewarding things has been seeing attendees discover a new activity at the festival, fall in love with it, and continue to practise it once they return home.
As a festival created for queer women and non-binary people, we offer something many attendees struggle to find elsewhere – a genuinely safe and supportive environment in which to be active.
In my case, it was watching the joy on people’s faces after one of our first wild swims that inspired me to launch the UK’s first-ever Pride Swim in 2023.
Swimming is such an accessible sport, welcoming people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
We took a pause this year, but we’re excited to bring Pride Swim back in 2027 in partnership with an LGBTQ+ charity. Watch this space!
Looking ahead to 2026, we’re returning to Devon for our second year.
With the coast just a short drive away, we’ll be offering sea swims and surf sessions and we’re currently in talks with Devon Cricket about hosting a relaxed beach cricket session.
We’ll also be partnering with a local outdoor centre to deliver stand-up paddleboarding, archery and mountain boarding too, while our run coach will lead a Saturday morning group run.
Our ambition is to grow Out & Wild to more than 2,000 attendees over the next two years, and sport will be an integral part of that journey.
We’ve already worked with a number of governing bodies – particularly in Wales, where the festival first launched – and we’d love to build more partnerships in the future, not only at the festival itself but through the year-round events we now run.
We’re excited to keep finding sport and physical activity opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community, so if you're a sporting organisation looking to engage with these groups in meaningful ways, we’d love to hear from you.
This year the Out & Wild Festival will take place from 3-6 July in Bideford, Devon, so come and join us to celebrate and take advantage of the amazing offerings from our festival.
Everybody is welcome!