Following on from yesterday’s Pride in London celebrations, thousands have come together at Haggerston Park today (7 July) to celebrate UK Black Pride.

Having started as a day trip to Southend-on-Sea back in 2005,  Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent has since been held at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, where it pulled in almost 8000 attendees last year. To accommodate the event’s continued growth, co-founder and creative director Phyll Opoku-Gyimah previously revealed that 2019’s celebration was to take place at Haggerston Park.

“We’ve had a really good run in Lambeth and are grateful to the local council and residents who helped make our annual celebrations so successful,” she explained in a statement on UK Black Pride’s website. “We’re excited to work with Hackney Council, the Mayor of Hackney and local residents and businesses to bring UK Black Pride to east London this summer.

“We are so energised by Hackney’s diversity, historical significance as a welcoming place for people from such a broad range of diasporas and the wonderfully enthusiastic response from local government.”

Attendees have been taking to social media all day to snap pictures of themselves as they celebrate and gear up to watch performances from artists such asAaron Carty’s Beyoncé Experience, Toya Delazy, Nate Ethan and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter MNEK.

Showing his support for UK Black Pride, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took to Twitter earlier today to say: “I’m proud to be sending my solidarity and best wishes to all those attending this year’s event. In London, we know our diversity is our greatest strength and that racism, homophobia and transphobia have no place in our city.

It is essential that all LGBTQ+ Londoners see all aspects of their identities reflected and celebrated in Pride celebrations. Here in London, you are free to be who you want to be and love who you want to love.

LGBT+ Londoners should never have to live in fear because of their race, sexuality or gender and as Mayor, I promise I will always stand with you in your fight against discrimination and for equal rights.”

Posting a selfie with Opoku-Gyimah, who is often referred to as Lady Phyll, Oskar Marchock wrote on Instagram: “Thank you so much for all that you do for this community you incredible human.”

Earlier, he had shared a photograph of himself and Lui Asquith, a lawyer who does a lot of work with transgender children’s charity Mermaids.