SHOUT – How Was It For You?

On Sunday the closing party of the first ever SHOUT Festival took place at Birmingham's Nightingale Club, featuring lesbian comedienne Clare Summerskill and the brilliant talent of singer-songwriter Declan Bennett.

The LGBT cultural festival was the brainchild of the Birmingham LGBT Trust and has been run as a pilot with a view to sustaining a permanent event. I was asked to join the steering committee over a year ago because of my involvement in founding Birmingham Blaze Football Club in 2005 and running the Distraction alternative club night for three years. I was quick to accept as it seemed a great opportunity to help explore an alternative to the commercialised party that Birmingham Pride has become in recent years.

I co-led the sports strand helping to write a successful bid to Sport England, organised a gig night at Eden Bar and advised on the use of social media.

It's been hard work but the year of planning really paid off as the programme of visual arts, performing arts, sports and community events was successfully delivered. Highlights for me included the successful sports taster sessions, the DIVAS night at the Glee Club and Queer Question Time at the Hippodrome.

We'd really like to hear what you thought of the Festival, so please take the time to fill out a short evaluation if you attended one or more of the events.

Roll on SHOUT 2010!