'Whole lot of love' at Stafford Pride

Thousands have taken to the streets in Staffordshire in rainbow colours to celebrate a Pride event.

The second Stafford Pride kicked off with a parade through the town centre at midday on Saturday, followed with a festival at Victoria Park.

The "amazing" event celebrated the local LGBTQ+ community, organisers said, with crowds gathering to watch a headline performance from drag artist Baga Chipz.

Event director Jack Taylor-Walker said: "It just goes to show that there's a hell of a lot of love about."

He said the festival, which was first held in 2024, was going from strength to strength, with this year's attendance up to about 8,000 people.

Last year's event attracted about 7,500.

"We had an amazing crowd throughout the town for the parade and also in the park itself," Mr Taylor-Walker said.

"This was a proper family event and it was well attended by families."

Bunting and rainbow flags flying across the town showed support for Pride's mission of equality and tolerance, with the support of local organisations and the community meaningful, the event director added.

"It means that our community, the LGBTQ+ community, can be themselves and just celebrate the right that our predecessors before us have spent so long fighting for," he said.

Stafford Pride is a community interest company, with funds raised by the event reinvested into next year's festival and parade.

With the event going from strength to strength, plans for 2026 are already under way.

"We are back on for the 8 August next year and we'll be releasing details in the new year," Mr Taylor-Walker said.

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