Carlisle set to dance to the sounds of Whigfield today

Thousands of people are expected to join in the celebrations of diversity and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) with a rainbow flag flying from the Old Town Hall.

There will be also be glitter beard face painters and silly costumes, dancing and lots of laughs as well as music from Voice stars Jolan and Jordan Gray, Matt Pagan of Collabro and Danny Beard.

Pride, which celebrates equality, is being held today rather than its usual July date because of delays caused by last December's floods.

Two years ago the event was headlined by dance band The Vengaboys, while last year 80's star Marc Almond wowed a crowd of more than 6,500.

This year Cumbria police and crime commissioner Peter McCall will speak at the event as well as human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Mr Tatchell, who helped organise the first-ever Pride event in London in 1972, said: “It is really important that we don’t just have Pride events in big cities like Manchester and Glasgow.

“LGBT celebrations need to be everywhere and it is great to acknowledge the positive contribution that LGBT people make to Carlisle and Cumbria.”

Organiser Glenn Anderson set up the county’s first LGBT centre three years ago.

The centre, on Fisher Street, is home to a range of support and campaign groups and also provides a counselling service, as well as the Sticky Bits cafe.

Mr Anderson, 44, said: “It will be a fantastic day for all involved. We will have some very prominent names here in Carlisle celebrating equality and diversity.

“We have terrific support here in Carlisle for our festival and it is exciting to see it grow year-on-year. We can see the city centre being at full capacity this year.”

This year’s Pride coincides with the launch of the first ever exhibition of LGBT history in Cumbria.

Featuring real-life stories, the display at Tullie House Museum charts a social revolution from persecution to equal marriage in one lifetime.

The fun starts at 12pm.