Milton Keynes Pride Festival will take place next month and promises to be even bigger and better than before

The increasingly popular event will take place in Campbell Park on September 10 with the aim of promoting visibility, social cohesion, connection, education, equality, promotion of the LGBTQ+ community in Milton Keynes and surrounding areas.

Last year the festival attracted 14,000 visitors and was a huge success.

"We are looking to provide even more things for you to take part in this year and hope to see even more of you attend,” said a spokesman for the organisers.

Milton Keynes Pride Festival is a non-profit community interest company and its volunteers last year raised more than £113,000 to stage the free event.

The spokesman said: “We are keeping to our ethos of trying to have a different kind of Pride. We do not have a parade but seek to undertake our social action by our relationships with the companies that sponsor, impact on services and visibility within MK.

“95% of all performers are from the LGBTQ+ community and we promote LGBTQ+ owned businesses as much as possible. All of the businesses you will see at the event or providers are either LGBTQ+ run or have established, structured support for their LGBTQ+ staff or customers.”

The spokesman described last year’s festival atmosphere as “immense” saying: "The new addition of the Drag and Cabaret tent last year was a huge success...In the evening we had people dancing and connecting, enjoying the performances.”

This week centre:mk announced its sponsorship of the festival for the second year running.

They will be sponsoring the festival volunteers, helping to provide them with training, t-shirts and a pop-up volunteer hub.

The centre will also be sponsoring the sensory tent, where people can relax and feel calm.

The sponsorship reflects centre:mk’s ethos to help make the centre and the wider city a place where individuals can feel like they can come and be themselves, regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.

Kevin Duffy, centre:mk’s director, said: “We are really happy to be part of Milton Keynes Pride Festival and to be even more involved this year. It really is a day of celebration, not just for the LGBTQ+ community but for everybody to come and join in the fun.”