Kendal will not let rain dampen its first Pride

Organisers of the first Kendal Pride have said they will not let the rain wash out the town's first celebration.

The event aims to make use of its rural setting by encouraging activities including walking and trail running.

It is the latest to be held in Cumbria to celebrate the LGBT+ community there, after successes in Furness and Silloth.

Chair Jamie Hooper said: "Despite what's going to be quite a wet weekend, we are going to get on with it, there's going to be lots of fun around."

Organisers had initially planned a small-scale event, but due to the support from the town and local businesses it had grown into a three-day festival, which began on Friday and ends on Sunday.

"We've felt it was about time we did something locally here and we pitched Kendal Pride as Pride done differently," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"We wanted to make use of the local area, amazing scenery and lots of activities, whilst also having a great time.

"There are lots of services already happening around here particularly for young people, lots of smaller community groups for LGBT people - so it just felt like the right time to bring all that together into one big celebration."

A Pride flag has been flown outside Kendal Town Hall and the event will be opened by the Mayor of Kendal.

There will also be art exhibitions and entertainment, with a Pride Village held in the garden at The Brewery Arts.

"Honestly, we thought this was going to be a walk and a little bit of a social, but it has absolutely blown up over the last six months or so," Mr Hooper added.

"Purely from support from the town, local businesses, volunteers and different organisations wanting to get involved [it] has meant that it has turned into a three-day festival."

Kendal Pride will be held at the same time as the Kendal Unity Festival, which will also host events around the town.

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