Pride event 'a celebration and show of solidarity'
Newcastle City CouncilThousands of people are again expected to attend a festival celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
The weekend-long Newcastle Pride festival will get under way at midday with a march through the city centre.
Held annually, organisers Northern Pride say the theme will once again be "unapologetically visible".
Director Ste Dunn said the event was set to be "bigger and better than ever".
Starting at the Civic Centre, the march will head along John Dobson Street and New Bridge Street West to avoid construction works on Northumberland Street.
It will then join its usual route along Blackett Street and Percy Street, before finishing back at the Civic Centre.
Elsewhere, Times Square will host music performers and food vendors, while a Family and Youth Zone will be at the Theatre Royal and the area around Grey's Monument will have a Market Village.
It follows a move last year to bring the festival into the city centre having previously been based further out in Exhibition Park and the Town Moor.
The event will close with a candlelit vigil at 21:00 BST on Sunday at Times Square, which organisers say will give people "time for reflection and remembrance".
Newcastle City Council"Launching Newcastle Pride as a city-wide takeover last year was truly transformative, and we are so excited for this year's Newcastle Pride festival to be bigger and better than ever," Mr Dunn said.
"We are confident that we have been able to make the new route work, and that the right decision has been made to ensure the safety and welfare of participants."
Newcastle City Council leader Karen Kilgour said the weekend's events would be a celebration but also an act "of defiance and solidarity".
She added: "We are aware of increases in hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community recently and that is why events like this are important.
"I am proud that Newcastle is an open, diverse and fair city and one that is safe and welcoming for everyone."