Crowds flock to Tavistock's first-ever Pride festival

The programme of events featured a festival-style event and a picnic in the park, with music and other family-friendly festivities

Crowds have turned out for a Devon town's first-ever Pride festival.

Organisers said the event in Tavistock on Saturday sought to increase visibility, build community, and celebrate sexual and gender diversity.

The organisers received £10,000 in lottery funding, and a further £500 from Devon and Cornwall Police.

Julu Irvine, one of the organisers, said they wanted to show people Tavistock was a welcoming place, "where you can be whoever you want to be".

People flocked to Tavistock town centre for the first ever Pride festivities

The programme of events featured a festival-style event and a picnic in the park, with music and other family-friendly festivities, followed by a parade and speeches ending in the town square at 17:30 BST.

Tavistock's first-ever Pride festival also received an endorsement from Plymouth-born Olympic diver Tom Daley.

organiser Julu Irvine said: "When we moved here, we found that the LGBTQ community here wasn't massively visible.

"We wanted to do something that would give that visibility and diversity to the community and show the town and the young people in the town that it's a welcoming place and you can be whoever you want to be here."