Newcastle Pride 2017: City hosts event for 10th year

Hundreds took part in the city centre parade

Newcastle's Pride Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The weekend-long event features a fun fair, stalls and musical performances on the Town Moor, and a parade through the city centre on Saturday.

Newcastle Cathedral is holding a Pride Eucharist - a special service of communion to celebrate diversity.

There will also be a candle-lit vigil to show support for those who have lost their lives - and those who keep fighting - for LGBT rights worldwide.

Miss Rory hosted the festival's main stage

Mark Nichols, chair of Northern Pride which organises the event, said: "I hope it's raising the awareness of the community, that we are your neighbours, your work colleagues, part of your family.

"We are ordinary people; there's nothing different to us, and that's the message I want people to take away, and just want to be able to combat homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia."

The emergency services are among those setting up stalls on the Town Moor

In 2016 the festival attracted more than 73,000 visitors and contributed more than £10.4m to the economy, according to estimates.

The event was first staged in August 2007 after a brief gap in Pride activities following the closure of Pride on the Tyne.

The rainbow flag is flying from many of the city's landmark buildings