Carnival performers brought a blast of colour to a grey Saturday afternoon in South Shields when the annual South Tyneside Festival Parade swung into vibrant action.

The event's lunch-time start in South Shields brought musicians, dance troupes and floats to the streets. The parade is the result of months of work involving local schools and community groups and, with 'celebration' being its theme this year, there was added buzz among the 50-plus organisations taking part.

A giant Pride flag also added to proceedings as members of the LGBTQ+ community joined in, as part of the first Pride in South Tyneside which will see month-long celebrations across the borough. Once under way, the parade, organised by South Tyneside Council with arts organisation The Cultural Spring, passed the Town Hall at 1pm and made its way down Fowler Street to the town centre then along Ocean Road to Bents Park, where bars and food stalls were set up and the big programme of entertainment played out.

Here, visitors enjoyed the likes of an aerialist display; pedal-powered silent disco; dance displays; a craft fair and face-painting while adding to the fun were walkabout characters and performances by Spark! drummers. Wrapping up the day of fun was live music by boogie band King Pleasure and The Biscuit Boys.