'Anyone welcome' at city's Pride parade

3 hours ago

Susie Rack,West Midlandsand

John "JD" Dalziel,BBC CWR

News image — Maddie Flowers, in black, attended Coventry Pride with her girlfriend Rachel and other friends

BBC A group of eight women and one man pose for a picture outside in a city square, with high-rise civic buildings and others visible behind them. They hold up pink, orange and yellow rainbow flags and a sign saying Big Fat Lezza. — Maddie Flowers, in black, attended Coventry Pride with her girlfriend Rachel and other friends

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."

A drag performer in feathered purple bodice, silver necklace and ornate blue and black feathered headdress poses with their hand under their chin at the base of a stone plinth — Performer Miss Brazil, from Birmingham, led the parade from Coventry's Godiva Statue through the city streets

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.

A crowd of people snakes down a city centre precinct, waving rainbow flags. Shops including Waterstones can be seen behind. — Hundreds participated in the parade through Coventry city centre on Sunday afternoon

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."

A group of four young people dressed in black, all wearing cat ears, pose in a city square. Civic buildings and shops can be seen behind them. It is a cloudy day, but bright. — Ember, 19, Sea, 19, Nyx, 18 and Millie 20, met up in Coventry for the Pride march

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."

Two men in green paramedic uniforms, wearing rainbow lanyards, smile in front of a West Midlands Ambulance Service car which has been draped in a rainbow flag. Both men have brown hair, while the one on the right wears dark glasses and has rainbow face paint on both cheeks. They are in a city square, with the plinth of a statue on their left and restaurants and bars behind. — West Midlands Ambulance workers took part in the Coventry Pride march

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".

Four people smile as they hold up a rainbow banner which reads Proud to be Coventry Cathedral, with a cross of nails icon in white. To their right a lady in a wheelchair wearing a pink headband smiles broadly, holding a lion teddy. They are in a public square, with others carrying rainbow flags visible behind. — Representatives from Coventry Cathedral were also at the march

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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