The beautiful city of Chester will be filled with beautiful characters and celebration this weekend as Chester Pride makes a welcome return.

Last year was the incumbent edition of the event and it was well-received within the LGBT community. For the unfamiliar, LGBT means lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender – all will be present at this amazing festival and making themselves heard.

Voluntary groups, charities and public sector organisations will all be taking part in the grand parade through the city centre, headed by the group’s new mascot: a Roman God who will be introduced for the first time in 2014. Sporting a rainbow plume helmet and a throne inscribed with some important moments in LGBT history, the organisers hope he will become synonymous with Chester Pride over the next few years.

The Lord Mayor of Chester will be among the numbers over the weekend but unfortunately might not be taking part in the samba and belly dancing going on through the streets with the Public and Commercial Services Union Samba Band.

The route will start at the recently redeveloped Grosvenor Park before heading to St Johns Street, Eastgate Street, Northgate Street, St Werbugh Street and then back to the park where the fun will begin with some fantastic live music. Sonia, Rozalla, Livin Joy, Kelly Llorena, Tokyo Taboo, Sharon Wallace, dance duo Shelter, Chester Rock Choir, Bears Aloud and Wolf are among the acts with a couple of tribute performances also taking place. There will also be activities for youngsters amongst many other fascinating events on during the day.

Jenna Pickin-Jones, Chester Pride Director and Social Media coordinator, said: “Following last year’s Pride, we had a lot of people asking us to consider having a parade at future events. Upon announcing that we would be having a parade, the response has been fantastic and we are pleased to have the Lord Mayor taking part along with all the groups, businesses and organisations.

“The mascot is inspirational and after Pride will be going on tour. We would also encourage any schools, businesses, or other venues that would like to house it for a few weeks to get in touch. We hope that people who aren’t taking part in the parade support it on the day by standing along the parade route cheering us on.”

You can follow Chester Pride UK on Facebook, or Twitter at @chesterpride.

“P1010197” by www.flickr.com/photos/hippie, license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 – 03/10/2014