PARTY preparations are well underway for a LGBT Pride event which will hit the streets of Worcester later this month.

Celebrations will begin from 5pm on Saturday, July 30 with a boat party on board the Pride of the Midlands leaving from the city's North Quay.

Then, at 7.45pm a colourful parade will assemble outside the Severn View Hotel, Newport Street, before winding through the city to an after party - the location of which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Thomas Easterlow and Vince Monte, who together form The House of Black Entertainment, are organising the festivities, which will also raise money for the Worcester Foundation.

Mr Monte, 27, from Worcester, said: "I'm really excited because Worcester has never had a pride.

"We have been working on this since Hallowe'en last year. It will be very colourful, with lots of queens. It is going to be great to finally see it in action.

"I think it is time to show we can all be out and everything is okay, people are going to accept us. I want people to see that LGBT are accepted. It is important that Worcester is accepting and shows it."

During the day, there will be a speech in tribute to the victims of the Orlando massacre, in which 49 people were killed at gay nightclub Pulse.

Mr Monte said: "It is going to be quite an emotional one this year. We are doing a speech on the Orlando tragedy."

And for every drink sold at the event, ten pence will be donated to the Worcester Foundation, which offers support to anyone concerned about HIV in Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

On the night there will be entertainment from a host of drag queens, including Alicia Lashes and Eddie Masih.

For more information about the charity visit worcesteraidsfoundation.org.uk

To buy tickets to the boat party visit facebook.com/WorcesterPrideEvents/ or imxprs.com/free/hobentertainment/home/pride