Pride organisers want people 'to leave with a smile'

The first Loughborough Pride event took place in 2024

A town in Leicestershire is set to host its second Pride event on Saturday after the "success" of their inaugural event last year, organisers said.

Loughborough Pride said a day event would start with a speech from the former Mayor of Charnwood, Dr Julie Bradshaw MBE, at 13:00 BST before the on-site entertainment begins at Queen's Park.

Ashley Jewkes, chairman of Loughborough Pride, said the event in the park would include drag queens as well as Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift tribute acts in addition to Got To Be Pop.

Organisers said the day's events would continue from 18:30 into the evening at the Jam Garden and Corner House.

New Street, which connects Ward's End to Queen's Park, will be closed to vehicle traffic and will host food and drink vendors.

As well as acts on stage, Mr Jewkes said there would be a bouncy castle at Queen's Park and 17 non-food or drink stores including a catering company providing dog treats.

Organisers said this year's celebrations would be the first Loughborough Pride to have a day event as in 2024, it took place in bars in the evening, with more than 2,000 people attending.

Mr Jewkes said he wanted everyone to leave this year's celebration "with a smile" and appreciated the "hard work" of the community.

"Pride always should be a safe, welcoming environment for everybody and we really want the wider community to be involved and appreciate what we do and the reasons why we do it.

"I want everyone to have an absolutely superb time," he added.