Omagh Pride turns the town rainbow-coloured for the day

The crowds started to build early along High Street in anticipation of seeing the colourful and celebratory annual Omagh Pride parade on Saturday.

LGBTQ+ people and supporters came from throughout Ireland to Omagh to march and celebrate Pride. The town was awash with colourful costumes and pageantry as Tyrone’s county town turned from red to white to rainbow for the day.

The music and carnival atmosphere started early in Main Street car park as people formed into groups to march in the parade. A few of the groups already practising their chants while others prepped their outfits and costumes.

At 1pm marchers left the car park on their journey around the town soundtracked by a mix of samba music and 80s pop hits. The parade as always was cheered and applauded has its way around the town.

Omagh Pride was greeted by a wall of support from the people of the town. Young and old lined High Street applauding and cheering the pageantry.

It is important to remember though that for many Pride is still a protest and there is always a tense atmosphere as what will happen when the parade comes face to face with protesters. But, this year as with the last two Omagh Pride parades the marchers went past the protesters in a peaceful and dignified manner. But did not let anyone forget that Pride ‘is also a protest’.

The highlight of the parade came as the parade was finishing up and returning back towards the main concert area in Mainstreet car park when out of no where many of the marchers fired a confetti cannon full of rainbow coloured paper in the air. this meant even the skies around Omagh were tinged in rainbow colour for a few moments.

Once the parade returned to the concert ground there was a sea of well wishing and congratulations, as marchers embraced and congratulated each other overwhelmed by the support they received by the people of Omagh. Only twenty years ago the idea of any Pride parades outside Belfast seeming a long way away yet now nearly every major town in the North has one.

The after party concert itself felt like a real celebration, as any tension of the day and how the parade would go was now over and marchers and organisers could really let the hair down.

Dancing went on throughout the afternoon as mega hits by Cher sang by tribute act Essentially Cher were belted out from the mains stage.