Kelvingrove Park at Pride Glasgow 2018 | Photo: David Hudson
Pride Glasgow said they are ‘profoundly sorry’ to the people and the LGBTI community of their host city.
This comes after a ticketing problem led to hundreds of people being turned away from the pride event at Kelvingrove Park last month.
The fiasco was a huge disappointment to countless people hoping to attend.
This year’s was the biggest ever Pride Glasgow, with over 12,000 people flocking to take part.
Famous faces in attendance included Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and former Spice Girl, Mel C.
But the event ran into problems when the street parade finished at Kelvingrove Park.
A ticketing problem ensued, resulting in long queues and organizers having to turn people away at the gates.
Some festival-goers had to queue for over three hours under the blistering summer sun.
‘Glasgow, we let you down’
Responding to the criticism, Pride Glasgow posted a humbling apology on their Facebook page.
‘Glasgow – we let many of you down this year and we’re profoundly sorry,’ the post said.
They also offered their apologies to the LGBTI community, guests performs and sponsors.
‘We’ve been listening, reviewing, reflecting and taking action – we hear your concerns and want to provide an update,’ the statement continued.
‘The refund period was open for 30 days and we’ve responded to 664 requests, providing refunds totaling over £6,500 and accepting requests for 278 VIP tickets for 2019.
‘We want a Pride event that Glasgow can be proud of – the biggest and best in Scotland.’
However, some members of Scotland’s LGBTI community expressed skepticism.
Comedian Scott Agnew said he will not return as a host until a new organizing committee is formed.
‘This is clearly a smoke and mirrors move from Pride Glasgow to give the appearance that things have changed,’ Agnew told Pink Saltire.
‘This is merely a reshuffling of the pack of the same organizing committee who oversold the event, endangered the LGBT+ community’s safety and failed to respond in a timely fashion to concerns and complaints and requests for refunds,’ he said.
Pride Glasgow is due to return in August 2019.
