Drag performer’s rallying call with 1.5million expected at UK’s biggest Pride party

Raven Mandella’s turntable adventures are due to continue at a Pride after-party in London (Picture: Sam Benjafield via The Clapham Grand/Nik Pate)

A drag performer is flying the rainbow flag for Pride as tens of thousands of revellers prepare to join a parade in London today.

Raven Mandella spoke of his ‘crazy journey’ from growing up in Leeds through to his career as a flamboyant DJ and professional dancer.   

Raven has found ‘safety in music’ on a journey that spans the globe and will take in a post-Pride party after the parade and stages close later.   

Last week, Dr Hsien Chew MBE, who founded a national network of choirs, told Metro.co.uk how music is an antidote to rising hate crime, especially through groups in areas with little or no LGBTQ+ visibility. 

Pride in London, with stages dotted around the heart of the city, is due to scale up the sense of togetherness at a time when ‘devastating’ abuse and violence is being directed at the LGBTQ+ community, Raven said.

The festival is due to be attended by an estimated 1.5 million people throughout the day, with around 33,500 people taking part in the parade, the organisers told Metro.co.uk.  

‘The world has become even more crazy over the past few years that’s for sure,’ Raven said.   

‘The constant attacks from government and certain sections of the media has undoubtedly had a devastating effect on the way the LGBTQ+ community is perceived.

‘I believe, now more than ever, that it’s important to be as united as possible. And that goes for both the LGBTQ+ community and our straight allies. I don’t believe in being on the left or the right political agenda.   

‘I believe in what’s right and what’s wrong. And what is going on in the world at this moment, that is definitely wrong. And those who believe the same should stand together.   

‘Regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, we are all human and the right to exist should not be up for debate.

‘That is why we need Pride.’  

Raven has gone from dancing to his music idols to playing alongside them on world stages (Picture: Nik Pate, with thanks to Exactia Management)

Growing up in Chapletown, Leeds, as the oldest of five siblings, all of Raven’s friends were straight, but he refused to apologise for being Black and queer in the face of intolerance and ignorance.   

Theatre school and travels across the world as a professional performer followed before he joined the Defected music brand’s touring Glitterbox party, which has a long-standing presence in Ibiza.

Raven, now 37, has since left Glitterbox but still travels the world performing with people he had once been in awe of as a fan.

Earlier this month he took a nod to his roots, dressing as the Wicked Witch of West Yorkshire at a huge Wizard of Oz-themed beach party in Cannes for the Cannes Lions International Festival. A busy few weeks have also seen the artist being involved in an immersive Pride exhibition involving Mixmag at the new Outernet space in Tottenham Court Road.

Raven behind the decks at The Clapham Grand, where the drag performer will be returning for a Pride party (Picture: Sam Benjafield via The Clapham Grand)

Describing his personality and his music, Raven said: ‘I’d describe myself and my DJ sets as energetic, uplifting, full out with feeling total extravaganza. It’s house, it’s disco, it’s everything!’  

The performer, from Notting Hill, west London, has a home city gig at The Clapham Grand tonight for a Pride after-party on a bill also featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard, Pussycat Dolls’ Kimberley Wyatt and pop star Diana Vickers. 

Raven’s journey echoes that of dance music’s own origin story as a force uniting many different and sometimes marginalized people.

‘Disco and house music began with the Black and Hispanic LGBTQ+ communities,’ he said.   

‘All dance music can be traced back to the music that was played at the iconic clubs of the 70s and 80s like The Warehouse in Chicago and Paradise Garage in New York City, where queer people were safe to feel free and express themselves.

Raven has an extravagant stage persona and musical identity combining many different styles and influences (Picture: Sam Benjafield via The Clapham Grand

‘I have always found safety in music.

‘My love for music has taken me to places I’d never dreamed I could go, growing up in Leeds. One minute, I’m finding myself on the dancefloors in the early 2000s, listening to artists like Barbara Tucker, Ultra Nate and The Shapeshifters, then the next, these people become my friends I’m dancing and DJing with all over the world. It’s been a crazy journey, but dance music has and will always be an important part of my life.’  

Pride in London is the nation’s largest and most diverse programme of events during the rainbow month of June. The parade is expected to be the biggest in the event’s history, with 600 groups taking part in the procession, which will be led by the mayor Sadiq Khan.

Five stages will host a wide variety of acts in central areas including Trafalgar Square, Soho Square and Dean Street.

Raven will be helping to keep the party going after the UK’s biggest Pride parade (Picture: Sam Benjafield, via The Clapham Grand)

Krystal Lake is due to jump behind the decks at the LGBTQIA Women and Non-Binary Stage in Leicester Square, where a host of acts including the cast of the Tina Turner Musical are also due to perform.

Krystal told Metro.co.uk: ‘Hosting and DJing Pride is a dream come true.

‘The Lesbian and Non-Binary Stage at Leicester Square will be a hit with nothing but vibes! Pride is our time to celebrate how far we’ve come as individuals and as a community. 

‘It also recognizes that we have so much more to achieve, but it’s all possible when we come together to fight for equality.’ 

One of the highlights of the rainbow month takes place with Stonewall warning that hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people ‘have risen dramatically in the past few years’.

Music has taken the well-travelled DJ to places he once only dreamed of growing up in West Yorkshire (Picture: Hï Ibiza)

The antecedents of Pride show how such intolerance was confronted at another point in history on June 28, 1969, when police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York. The ‘public morals division’ descended on the gay bar to enforce ‘vice’ laws but hundreds resisted arrest and protests ensued.

Will De’Athe-Morris, director of communications for Pride in London, said: “We’re looking forward to marching alongside 33,500 other people this Saturday as we continue to show up for visibility, unity and equality for the LGBT+ community with our campaign #NeverMarchAlone, in support of our trans and non-binary siblings.

‘We’ll also be celebrating by welcoming global superstars Adam Lambert, Idina Menzel and Todrick Hall to the Trafalgar Square stage, as well as showcasing amazing artists across our other four stages, including a brand new stage in Soho Square dedicated to artists from the trans community.’

Catch Krystal Lake at the Leicester Square stage and Raven Mandella at The Clapham Grand.

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Raven Mandella has found ‘safety in music’ in a journey from Leeds to shows around the world.