The second Congleton Pride on Saturday saw Congletonians of all ages, many adorned with rainbow flags, face paint and colourful clothing, gather in the town centre for the first major event since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pride is a festival that celebrates diversity, tolerance and inclusion, and Congleton's event consisted of street stalls, entertainment, a mini fairground for the little ones and a ticketed evening event at the Vale Club.

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service brought their rainbow fire engine and several local churches worked together to provide a joint stall.

The free outdoor stage show began with a kids disco at 10.15am and continued all day with magic and pirate shows, comedy, a variety of solo musicians, bands and drag artists.

The crowd kept a safe distance between groups to enjoy the entertainment and dance along, sometimes with umbrellas but always with good humour.

Congleton Town Mayor Dennis Murphy welcomed the crowd and thanked them for coming out to support the event on a rainy Saturday.

Cllr Murphy said: "I am very proud of the people of Congleton and the values they hold."

Ronan Clayton, chair of Congleton Pride, introduced 'Morrisons Sue', the popular Susan Maydew, who officially opened the event, saying: "We are so happy you have joined us today to celebrate inclusivity and diversity in Congleton, after a difficult year for us all.

"We are so proud to open this event with open arms, a happy smile and a big thank you to all the front-line workers who have worked incredibly hard so events like this can go ahead.

"It has been my pleasure and honour to work in Congleton for 31 years. I have made friends from all walks of life, and I am so proud to open this event today. Here's to the future of pride in Congleton."

The event was organised by the Congleton Pride charity, a group of local volunteers who have been planning it since the first Congleton Pride in July 2019.

Last year's event was cancelled due to the pandemic and this year's had been postponed from earlier in the summer.

Jackie MacArthur, communities and marketing manager and deputy chief officer for Congleton Town Council, said: "The pride team worked incredibly hard over many months to create this really special day for the community of Congleton.

"The result was a fabulous event which made lots of people happy and was a great day for town. Thank you to everyone who supported the event."

Pride visitor Jessica Geddis commented: "This was our first Congleton Pride and we had such an amazing time today, thank you to everyone that helped put it together!

"After what we have all been through it was lovely to see some quality community spirit."

Tara Teejay Pownall added: "I had a fantastic afternoon with my partner, kids, friends and their dogs. We really enjoyed ourselves. Huge well done to everyone involved."

The Rev. Murray George thanked the organisers: "Those of us on the 'Churches at Congleton Pride' stall were made to feel so welcome and had some great conversations.

"It was easy to feel a part of the event and we look forward to being with you again next year. Thank you again from us all."

Pride trustee Richard Walton noted that the logistics were a challenge this time round.

Mr Walton said: "The committee worked hard to ensure the whole event was COVID-safe, with notices all around the town to maintain social distancing and sanitise and of course with the entire public event taking place outside.

"This time we decided to invest in road closures to allow everyone to spread out a bit more and worked with Cheshire East Council officers to ensure public safety.

"I am grateful to them and especially to the town council officers who worked hard behind the scenes to support our event.

"On the day everything went very smoothly. People were sensible and for the most part good social distancing was observed."

Many local businesses supported the event with sponsorship, and shops decorated their windows in rainbow colours.

The Oxfam shop on the High Street won the 'best dressed window' competition with a display featuring rainbow-coloured goods and paper hearts.

The NHS ran a small walk-in pop-up vaccination clinic at the event which was busy all day and had to re-order supplies of vaccine.

Nurse Maria Townsend said: "Many thanks to the people of Congleton for the welcome today. A special thank you to the teenagers who showed up to be vaccinated in our tent. 228 people were vaccinated today, and for that we thank you."

The entertainment was managed by Caitlin Walton, who paid tribute to her team and the artists: "It has been a pleasure working with this great team bringing largely local artists to the stage after a long break, giving many of them their first paid gig after months of lockdown."

Founding pride member Shaun Radcliffe added: "It has been a very long day for many of us from early morning set-up to closing up the Vale Club, but it has been worth it to see the smiles on hundreds of faces young and old.

"We have all had a blast and I can't wait to do it all again next year."

Congleton Town Councillor and pride trustee Kay Wesley added: "Thank you so much to all the stallholders and businesses who supported Congleton Pride as well as the NHS, the churches, the police and the fire service.

"Thanks also to the wonderful entertainers who gave us a fantastic afternoon and evening.

"I want to pay particular tribute to the incredible pride committee – it is really inspiring to see young volunteers involved in a charity and taking on an ambitious task like this for their town.

"The pride event is for everyone, and it was great to see such a diverse range of people of all ages joining in.

"It is a celebration of being who you are and saying 'live and let live' – showing tolerance and kindness to LGBTQ+ people and indeed to all our fellow human beings.

"Who can argue with that? Not the people of Congleton, who turned up in force on Saturday."

Ronan Clayton thanked the crowd and paid tribute to the committee and the many volunteers, saying: "An event like this takes so much work behind the scenes and today has been amazing. Thank you so much for coming and see you next year!"