'Welcoming' town to host its first ever pride event

A town's first pride festival will show it to be "inclusive" and "welcoming", the event's organiser has said.

Thame Pride, celebrating the Oxfordshire market town's LGBTQ+ community, is due to take place on 21 June.

A so-called pride village will be erected in the town centre, complete with stalls and a main stage hosted by drag queens.

The event's director David Dawson said the "exciting" event would have "fun for all the family".

"We are an increasingly diverse town, we are a very inclusive town full of welcoming people."

"The point of pride is to demonstrate that publicly and say 'yes, this is who we are as a town - we're a welcoming town to everybody, it doesn't matter who you are'," he added.

The first group announced to play the event is the London Gay Men's Chorus (LGMC) - of which Mr Dawson is a member.

The LGMC is the largest gay choir in Europe, and has previously featured on Comic Relief, The Graham Norton Show and Top of the Pops.

Mr Dawson, who is a town councillor, added that local artists would also feature on the billing for the festival which will be free to attend.

"Thame, and the surrounding villages as well, is just jam-packed full of really good talent," he said.

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