Thousands take to the streets of Taunton for town's annual Pride event

The fourth annual Taunton Pride has taken place in Somerset’s county town, with people uniting to celebrate diversity.

A march through the town centre and towards Vivary Park kicked the day off. Once in the park, people were able to enjoy entertainment, food and dozens of stalls.

Taunton has followed in the footsteps of towns and cities across the country in holding an annual Pride event. The first version of it took place in 2021 with the event gradually growing over recent years.

Rob Ewers is this year’s event director. He said: “We’re four years in. The first year we had it at a different venue - this is the third year we’ve run it here in Vivary Park.

"I think Pride and the idea of just accepting people for who they are and making sure that everybody sees you doing that is important.

"Taunton, until about four years ago, didn’t have its own Pride and was kind-of unique - it’s a county town, it should have something going on and we’re a group of volunteers who decided to do this.”

Lisa Snowdon-Carr is chief executive of the charity 2BU Somerset, which provides a specialist support service to LGBTQ+ people aged 11-25 in the county. It was among many groups and organisations with a presence at Taunton Pride, and Lisa said she’s pleased to see so many local events like it emerging in recent years.

"We’ve had Prides popping up in all sorts of communities in Somerset, which is fantastic", she said.

"We’ve got a fabulous team who get to go, show up for young people, be visible and talk about the work we’re doing in the county.”