Reading Pride: Thousands attend this year's parade and festival

Thousands of people attended Reading Pride parade and festival this year.

On Saturday, thousands took part in the parade which started at Reading Station, travelled through Oracle and Riverside to King's Meadow.

Acts that performed at the park included Girls' Aloud singer Nadine Coyle, 'Mickey'-singer, Lolly and RuPaul's Drag Race UK's Sum Ting Wong.

Across the day, Reading Pride told the BBC that more than 13,000 attended making it their largest event.

There were three stages for cabaret and musical acts as well as a family area and a community hub.

"Pride is a mix of celebration and activism," Tom Price from Reading Pride said..

"We need to remember that the parade originally was a protest but then it ends with a celebration of inclusion."

"We're all doing it for the cause, that's why we all commit our time to it," he added.

Local alt-rock band Elucidate performed on the Pride aLive stage, which hosted acoustic sets.

"We've never done an acoustic set before but it's been really fun," guitarist Caleb Paice said.

The band had not been to a Pride event before but said they were heavily involved in the LGBTQ+ community.

"It's a good time to go out and show love," Caleb said.

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