THE streets were filled with rainbow flags and dazzling costumes in Worthing on Saturday.

The town celebrated its first ever Pride event, with dozens of groups marching in a colourful parade along the promenade and thousands of people attending the event.

Dozens of groups joined the parade, including Adur and Worthing Councils, Unite, GlaxoSmithKline, Scouts groups, cheerleading groups and the Celebration Samba Band.

The parade started at The Burlington Hotel on Marine Parade at 1pm and ended at Beach House Grounds, where the main event ran from 2pm until 10pm.

There was live music and acts on stage, along with stalls selling food and drink from Protos, Mr Delicious Hog Roast and the new Artisan Pantry Worthing.

Performers included Miss Disney, Sally Vate, Miss Jason and drag queen Spice was the compere.

Kids entertainment, including rides, ran for most of the day at Denton Gardens.

More than 2,500 pre-sale tickets were sold, with many more bought on the day.

Worthing Pride raised money for two local charities, Mind Coastal West Sussex and All Sorts Youth Project, both of whom support the LBGTQ community.

The main sponsor of the event were The Cow Shed in Worthing, who provided a dedicated cocktail bar.

Other sponsors were Equiniti, Unite, Leaders Estate agents in Worthing, with support from Southern Water and South Downs Leisure.

Josie Kelly, chairwoman of Worthing Pride, said: “It was an amazing day, I am really happy with how it went.

“The idea behind Worthing Pride was to put on something more subdued, with a more Worthing kind of feel.

“Brighton Pride is fantastic and lively, but in Worthing we have a lot of older people and families, and we wanted to give them, as well as the younger people in Worthing, an event on their doorstep.

“Unfortunately there is still homophobia in Worthing, so we wanted to educate the local community.

“A lot of people have told me they really liked the vibe, and we had lovely sunshine as well.”