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Pride: Belfast flooded with colour for parade

Belfast Pride: Colour floods the streets for Pride parade

Thousands of people have turned out in Belfast for the annual Pride parade.

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar attended the march.

News imagePA Media A Pride-goer grabs a selfie with taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo VaradkarPA Media
A Pride-goer grabs a selfie with taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar

Billed as a celebration of the city's LGBT community and as a protest calling for equality, the parade set off from Custom House Square at 13:00 BST and paraded through the city centre.

A rainbow Pride flag was flown from Belfast City Hall for the first time. Lord Mayor John Finucane said it was "hugely significant".

News imageAFP/Getty Images A marcher wears an oversized feather collar featuring the colours of the rainbow flagAFP/Getty Images
The Pride event was a spectacle of colour in Belfast city centre

Members of BBC Pride, a staff-led initiative which operates across the UK, took part in the Belfast parade for the first time.

News imageNiall Carson/PA Media Marchers hold a banner with BBC Pride written on it as they pass St Anne's Cathedral in BelfastNiall Carson/PA Media
BBC Northern Ireland staff joined the parade for the first time

The head of BBC Northern Ireland apologised to staff on Friday over "confusion" around participation in the event.

In an email on Friday, Peter Johnston said the organisation would not be "involved corporately" in the event.

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The theme of this year's parade was 'Rights Now', as it aimed "to highlight the rights that are still denied to [the LGBTQ+] community".

Belfast's first ever Pride parade was in 1991, when about 100 people took part.

News imagePAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images A marcher stands in front of the camera with their back to the photographer. They are wearing a rainbow trilby hat and a rainbow feather boa.PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images
Some people wore rainbow colours from head to toe
News image@hakansandal A mother and son hold signs. One says 'Mom, I'm gay' and the other says, 'Hi Gay, I'm Mom'.@hakansandal
Marchers made their own signs for the parade including this mother and son
News imagePAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images A marcher holds a rainbow fan next to a rainbow flag running down the street behind them.PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images
One of the rainbow flags on show was a 30-metre section of a mile-long one made in 1994