Hundreds of people poured into Lancaster for the start of the city's first Pride Festival.

Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in tthe district got together to put on the show and so far the event has been a resounding success.

A touchlit procession passed through the city centre on Friday to finish at the Ashton Hall, where gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell enthralled the crowd with an opening speech.

Events continued throughout the weekend at city venues and a spokesman says: "It has been wonderful so far just what we imagined.

"People have supported Pride and that is what the festival is all about. Our aim is to get the community together and it seems to be working well.

"We had 150 people taking part in the torchlit procession and around 200 people were inside the hall for the opening event and we were very pleased."

The festival runs until Sunday with plenty of events taking place including a Diversity Dialogue as St Thomas's Church Hall, Marton Street, tomorrow (Thursday) night.

The event is being staged in association with NCBI and will focus on the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community in Lancaster.

With the introduction of legislation enabling civil partnerships, there are a number of questions in people's minds about the significance of this important step for society at large.

Following entertain-ment by the local group Cat's Chorus, singing a song called Homo-phobia, there will be a discussion on Redefining Family'.