HUNDREDS of people in Taunton joined the town’s first-ever Pride Parade today (Saturday, July 16).
Taunton Live and Pride Parade started this morning from Goodland Gardens, where people and members of LGBTQIA+ groups gathered with their rainbow flags.
The parade started at 11.30am and rolled into the town centre to reach Vivary Park around noon.
The colourful crowd headed up North Street, then East Street, back to the Market House, then up the High Street to finish.
At the park, participants took part in the festival (which goes on until 8pm) to enjoy its many activities – live music, circus performances, theatre, arts, bars, and more.
The festival in Vivary Park also featured a stylish Adventure Bus, which served as the central hub for the organisers and as a unique Green Room for the many VIPs and festival headliners.
Taunton Live and Pride grew out of Taunton Live Arts Festival, organised by Go Create and now a collaboration between Go Create CiC and Taunton Pride CiC.
Taunton Live and Pride was originally due to take place in 2020, but was delayed by the Covid pandemic, and the theme this year is Celebrate and Educate.
Go Create director Liz Hutchin previously said: "Having organised Taunton Live Arts Festival since 2015, making the arts accessible to everyone, it's important to Go Create that we include everyone in the community, however they identify.
“We celebrate diversity and inclusivity using the arts and culture as the vehicle to bring the community together.
"The joint festival and the Pride Parade are so important to Taunton to signal to everyone that Taunton is an inclusive and accepting town, making a visible statement that the LGBTQIA+ community is part of the overall community.”
A note about the event on Taunton Live and Pride website read: “For one day Taunton Town Centre will be a feast of visual and performing arts, culture and inclusively with a Pride Parade through town, multiple music stages, performers, dance, literary area, wellbeing area, children’s area, creative workshops, crafts, and awareness stalls and more in Vivary Park.”
Below is a photo gallery from the festival at Vivary Park. All photos by Steve Richardson.
![Somerset County Gazette: Lynda Norton [Chair ; Public Affairs ; WI] and Teresa Emms (County Chair; Somerset Federation; WI) and WI member Amanda Norris](/resources/images/14108830.jpg?type=mds-article-620 "Somerset County Gazette: Lynda Norton [Chair ; Public Affairs ; WI] and Teresa Emms (County Chair; Somerset Federation; WI) and WI member Amanda Norris")
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