Pride 2016 went off seemingly without a hitch, as it has done over the previous few years.

Happy people danced and made merry in the streets to a background of artists that any music festival, let alone gay pride event, would be proud of!  We heard from Lucy Spraggan, Venga Boys, Fleur East, and headliners Andy Bell of Erasure, and Lisa Stanfield – plus many many more.  It’s one of the UK’s largest Pride events and saw a record 75,000 spectators at the parade and tens of thousands more revellers attending the festival in the gay village.

We enjoyed cabaret from Willam Belli, Lola Lasagne, Miss Penny, Lady Imelda, Tanya Hyde, Son of a Tutu, Baga Chipz and all the other drag and cabaret artists that you’ve heard of.  As usual Sandra had us in non-politically-correct stitches, and stole the show.

Post the tragedy and terror of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shootings, I’ve worried about the timing of publishing these happy and love-filled pictures.  I’ve decided though that it’s exactly because those awful things can still happen, that society built that murderer and the people who have vocally supported him after the shooting, that we need to continue celebrating our diversity and warmth publicly.  As I find it hard to be eloquent on such a difficult topic I refer you to a wonderful article in The Guardian by Alexis Petridis, here.

Many people had gone all out on the costume front, as you’ll see from the photos.  One or two are NSFW – you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

We had a great time, and hope you enjoy the photos, see you there next year?