UK Black Pride announces Blacktober Fest after pausing huge summer celebration
UK Black Pride has announced Blacktober Fest, bringing Black LGBTQ+ communities together in London during Black History Month.
Taking over Colour Factory in Hackney Wick on October 16, the event will combine DJs, live performances and dancing with community organisations, independent businesses and Black LGBTQ+ creatives.
Blacktober Fest follows an unusual year for UK Black Pride after the organisation decided to pause its traditional large-scale summer celebration in 2026.
Rather than going ahead with the annual event as normal, UK Black Pride used this year to rest, reflect and consider how its work and celebrations should develop for the communities it serves.
Blacktober Fest is not simply the postponed summer event moved to another date. Instead, it offers a different kind of gathering built specifically around Black History Month and the culture, creativity and community of Black LGBTQ+ people.
The October event will bring performers and DJs together with organisations working directly with LGBTQ+ communities, while independent traders will have space to showcase their work.
That mixture gives people the opportunity to celebrate and dance while also discovering community organisations, creators and businesses in the same space.
Ticket income will help support UK Black Pride's wider work, including paying community artists and contributors and helping the organisation continue delivering accessible events.
UK Black Pride began with a gathering in Southend-on-Sea in 2005 and has since developed into a major annual London celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern heritage.
Its decision to pause the usual summer celebration made 2026 markedly different from recent years, but Blacktober Fest gives the community a new opportunity to come together before the year is over.
It also puts Black LGBTQ+ people firmly within London's wider Black History Month celebrations, combining nightlife and entertainment with community organisations and independent businesses in one event.
For UK Black Pride, the October gathering provides a different way of doing something that has been at the heart of its work for more than two decades: creating space for Black LGBTQ+ people to celebrate their communities together.
Blacktober Fest takes place at Colour Factory in Hackney Wick, London, on October 16, with tickets available through UK Black Pride's official event listing. Image credits: UK Black pride on Facebook
