Suffolk Pride returns with parade through Ipswich

A festival celebrating the LGBTQ+ community has returned with a parade through a town centre.

Musicians, roller skaters and drummers were joined by the major of Ipswich as they processed along Waterfront as part of Suffolk Pride 2022.

Organiser Lucy Edwards said this year they had concentrated on making it all "super accessible and inclusive" to people with disabilities.

The festival had to forego its parade last year over Covid concerns.

Organisers welcomed the return of the parade through Ipswich, after Covid concerns meant a much quieter Pride in 2021

The procession set off from Dance East at 12:30 BST and gathered for an afternoon of entertainment at the Waterfront Building.

Lucy Edwards, Suffolk Pride's head of access and inclusion, said: "We've worked so hard on disability access this year, we've got British Sign Language interpreters, all our venues are wheelchair accessible and we've got disabled artists performing.

A wide range of artists from Suffolk were booked to entertain the crowds at the Waterfront Building and the University of Suffolk

Ms Edwards continued: "We wanted to make it super accessible and inclusive not only for attendees but for artists as well.

"I've got muscular dystrophy and queer spaces aren't always accessible - night clubs and things like that - so it's so, so exiting for me that we've got this amazing, accessible queer space in Ipswich."

Organiser Lucy Edwards said they wanted this year's event to be "super accessible and inclusive"