Safe space promise made for Peterborough Pride
Around 5,000 people are due to attend today's festival
Organisers of this year's Pride festival in Peterborough are hoping it will create a safe space for everyone in the city.
Around 5,000 people are expected to gather for the event at the Green Backyard on Oundle Road today, which follows a parade through the city from Stanley Park at 12.30pm.
Singers, dancers and community performers are some of the acts lined up for the afternoon at an event, which started in its latest format in 2018.
Teddi the Drag Queen is the festival's chair:
"Everybody has it in the community, everybody has to put up a shield or a guard, and with Pride, we take over a space and say 'this is ours, so if you're in here, you've got to come along with our ride' like we have to every day with everybody else's," they said.
"Pride, and the events we are doing around Pride, is about coming along, being yourself, truly yourself and not having any fear of any repercussion because of that."
"All we're trying to do is have some fun"
One of the goals of Peterborough Pride, according to its website, is "to create a safe, inclusive and welcoming space for all members of the community".
Teddi said there can be difficulty fitting into communities in the city.
"We go into many spaces in Peterborough that aren't for us and therefore we have to hide ourselves and diminish ourselves, in every aspect that we walk into for fear of either being beaten up or being called out," they added.
"Me and my friendship group always has to be careful about being as they say, too loud, too over the top, because then you get unwanted attention and all we're trying to do, like everybody else, is have some food and have some fun."