A reflection on Festival Fortnight 2025, Scotland’s LGBTIQ+ sports festival
16th December 2025
Festival Fortnight reflection
During the final two weeks in June, LEAP Sports coordinated the 12th edition of Festival Fortnight. This was another record-breaking year with over 100 events on offer across the country, with 73 partners and over 2000 participants! A few highlights from these busy 2 weeks included a skateboarding session in Glasgow with Heelside Skate Club, a circus skills session in Moray and a polo taster session in Kinross. Stepping Out Caithness also kicked off Caithness Pride by joining Thurso Parkrun!
Another exciting addition to the festival was Stenhousemuir Rainbow Warriors and Ibrox Pride’s football open training sessions. Stenhousemuir Rainbow Warriors practice at Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir every Monday from 7pm and the first session is free - all genders and abilities are welcome!
FF2025 featured paddleboarding from Leap on Board, a new club based in Ayrshire. One participant said: ‘fantastic opportunity I’ve always wanted to try SUP but not really had the means so this was fantastic. I definitely do this again off my own back or with the group.’
Rainbow Glasgaroos hosted Scotland’s only mixed gender basketball tournament for the second year. One participant noted how inclusive and welcoming this event was: ‘Love having this competition, I rarely get to do something like this in a inclusive space and I appreciate the opportunity to challenge myself physically in a safe environment.’
A number of our LGBTIQ+ sports groups also put on events during FF2025. This included the return of Edinburgh Frontrunners 5k Pride Run, the annual Perth Parrots petanque tournament and new tennis and ten-pin bowling tournaments hosted by Dundee Deuces and Gay City Bowlers. Glasgow Pride CFC hosted a film screening about football in Palestine.
Edinburgh Kelpies and Holyrood Hippogriffs offered a new try quadball event. Rebel Tango also hosted 7 events offering the chance to try tango, ballroom, latin and line dancing! One participant said: ‘Really professionally guided dance class. It was a very different experience, pushed me out of my comfort zone in a good way.’
Our fourth Big Gaylidh event went down a treat with 87 attendees. One participant said: ‘Thank you LEAP. I had such a great time at all the events I went to. The Festival really boosted my feeling of being part of a thriving LGBTQ community, And reminded my what huge fun it is to do sporty activities together. Wonderful how welcoming the events were for everyone, in all our diversity, including me as an elder.’
Festival Fortnight 2025 was a massive success, and that all comes down to the partners who got involved and committed to delivering events which made everyone feel welcome and valued. 265 people gave feedback, of which 84.2% gave 5/5 rating for the event they attended, 79% said taking part in Festival Fortnight had encouraged them to be more physically active and 96.2% said taking part had improved their overall mood and mental wellbeing.
LEAP could also not have coordinated the festival without the support of dedicated volunteers who represented LEAP at multiple events throughout the 2 weeks. Get in touch via info@leapsports.org if you'd like to partner with us in 2026!
