Bristol Bisons RFC

THOUSANDS of people stopped the traffic as they joined a loud and colourful parade through Bristol for the highlight of the city's first gay pride festival.

A motorbike ridden by two drag queens led the Pride Day march from the Centre to Castle Park, with samba drums beating and whistles blowing.

Organisers of the event said they were delighted at the turnout, with even more festival-goers filling Castle Park for an afternoon of entertainment.

Many months of hard work were behind the week-long festival, which featured films, music, comedy and a sports day.

The parade formed outside the Hippodrome and set off behind Gareth Taylor, proprietor of the Palace and Bristol Bear Bar in Old Market, at the controls of the motorcycle in his drag queen best. Individuals and members of organisations from charities and football clubs to trade unions followed behind.

They made their way along Baldwin Street to Castle Park, where a stage hosted a programme of live entertainment. Visitors wandered among stands and food stalls, many of those attending travelling from places such as Cardiff, Brighton, Exeter and London for the day.

Bristol student Jennifer Rue, 20, said: "I've been to the Gay Pride in London and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd see what Bristol's was like.

"The atmosphere was amazing and everyone was just enjoying themselves."

Dave Phelps, 45, said: "I travelled down from Wiltshire to be here.

"We stayed all evening and just soaked up the atmosphere."

Bristol drag queen Lady Dior said: "It's taken so long to get this event up and running properly in Bristol but all the hard work has paid off because the day was brilliant."

Pride Bristol spokeswoman Louise Trimby said: "It's difficult to know how many people came along but it could be as many as 20,000.

"It's taken a long time to organise a Pride Bristol but it was a question of getting the right team and everything falling into place. We were lucky to get a team that inspired 200 volunteers to go out and collect money, unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and bring on board venues such as the Hippodrome, Arnolfini and Watershed."