'Anyone welcome' at Coventry's annual Pride parade

Hundreds have paraded through Coventry city centre to celebrate Pride 2026.

The two-day event promoting visibility and equality for LGBTQ+ communities began on Saturday, with Sunday's procession the main focus.

Chair of Coventry Pride Nick Cherryman said the celebrations, which launched in 2015, had been getting bigger every year and were a counteraction to "shame".

"It's just really exciting to see loads of people turn up and what our wonderful city is producing," they added.

"As long as you're respectful and kind, anyone is welcome," they told BBC CWR.

"Pride is a place where we go, 'actually, now I'm not ashamed of who I am', so it's for anybody that supports that idea."

The parade began at the Godiva statue in Broadgate at midday and made its way down Lower Precinct before looping back past the cathedral to University Square, before finishing in Fargo Village for celebrations to continue until 19:00 BST.

Maddie Flower, from Coventry, took part with her girlfriend Rachel and members of their SCSSR group, which puts on lesbian socials across the region.

She felt it was particularly necessary to attend "in this social and political climate".

"Things are getting worse for every marginalised group, especially LGBT people, especially LGBT women, black women, trans women, trans people," she said.

"It's important to show up, not just politically, to show that we're here and we're not going away, also to show joy, that we're still happy, we still exist, and you're not getting rid of us that easily."

Miss Brazil, a performer from Birmingham who led the parade through Coventry's streets, agreed: "Pride is really important, particularly in this political climate."

Nyx, 18, who had travelled from Oxford to meet up with friends at the event, said: "A Pride parade means that we can be who we want to be."

West Midlands Ambulance staff were also in attendance after the service previously pulled out of Birmingham's annual parade, over concerns their involvement could breach political impartiality.

Vice-chair of the service's PROUD Network, Lance Jinx, said participating in the march was about visibility "and being proud".

Also a drag performer under the name Ibi Profane, Cherryman was among a line-up of artists at Fargo Village on Saturday that included Black Peppa from RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

The line-up on Sunday includes performances from Element Dance, The Movement Project, and singer Charlotte Mulryne.

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