Warwickshire Pride is hosting its annual Pride festival this Saturday, 22 August, at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington Spa, with over 10,000 visitors expected.

The festival is set to include a pride march down the Leamington Spa Parade, food and drink stalls, on-stage entertainment, a dog show, children's activities and more.

The 2026 edition has also seen organisers invest heavily in extra security, following repeated incidents of vandalism over the past few years.

Chair of the charity Daniel Browne told Nub News what the festival means to the local community.

He said: "People are really looking forward to being able to protest, being able to be visible, and to celebrate who they are as well.

"I think this year, more than ever, it means so much to the community with the kind of climate that we're living in. It's quite hostile towards our communities."

The charity has once again selected 'Pride is a Protest' as the theme of this year's festival.

Daniel explained what this means and how it translates into the festival.

He said: "The pride movement started in New York in the 60s.

"It was started by trans people as a protest and a fight for our rights and sadly, nearly 60 years later, we're still needing to protest against the hate, the discrimination, and the persecution.

"We have what some people would call a parade through the Leamington town centre, but we call it a march, because a march is very much rooted in protest.

"It's about, one, being visible, and two, saying we're not going to put up with the hate that we're still subjected to.

"At the event we've got protest speeches, we've got workshops. We've got lots of educational stuff just about the history of pride and why first and foremost, it needs to remain a protest."

The festival has faced vandalism and alleged hate crimes in previous years, with tents being trashed and arrests being made after Warwickshire Pride trustees were reportedly attacked.

As a result, the charity has had to take costly measures to protect guests and staff, including tripling the amount of security compared to previous years.

Daniel said: "It puts a huge drain on the budget.

"It's a few thousand pounds, which to us as a small charity is a lot of money, and this year we've only just been able to cover all of the cost of the festival.

"For this year, we've had to do a terrorism risk assessment for the first time and put all sorts of safety measures in place because the hate and the vandalism is just getting worse every year."

Despite these incidents, the charity is determined to continue the celebration and welcomes anyone to come and join in.

This year's festival will see marchers assembling on Beauchamp Road for an 11am start.

The day will begin with the Pride march through town, followed by the main celebration at the Pump Room Gardens, until 6pm.

More information about the event can be found on their website: https://warwickshirepride.co.uk