Macclesfield Pride may not be holding its usual town centre celebrations this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but organisers want people to join in from home.

Organisers are putting on a virtual show for people to enjoy and are asking those celebrating to send in their pictures and videos of how they're doing so.

Denise Hartley-Dickens, the chair of Macclesfield Pride, told Nub News that the afternoon will feature talks from supporters in the local community, performances from acts that were due to perform on the Macc Pride stage and the featuring of pictures and videos of people celebrating.

She said: "We're using two phrases, Pride on the Drive or Home Pride and depending on the weather, we're encouraging people to get dressed up, decorate their houses, if possible to be outdoors and hold their own events."

Denise stressed the importance of adhering to current social distancing guidelines when celebrating at home.

"Some supporters are holding their own events. So, we've got somebody safely selling cakes from their driveways; somebody else is selling Pride related crafts. One business is opening up and selling Pride products that they've made," Denise said.

Denise said some other households were putting on their own mini-pride events for their neighbours to enjoy, including an outdoor sing-a-long.

She added: "There's a lot going on and I hope to be reporting on it throughout the afternoon so we can share it with all of our followers in the local community."

While Macclesfield Pride is always a fun occasion in any circumstances, Denise wants people to remain conscious of what it means.

"Our main principles at Macclesfield Pride are the promotion of equality and the celebration of diversity. It's really important that we're getting that message out to people, hence why we have the speakers as well as the musical performances," she said.

The virtual event will follow in the footsteps of the successful Barnaby Festival which took place last month and lifted people's spirits after months of lockdown.

Denise said: "At this time, with so much isolation and people not at work or people maybe not in their usual home, there's more need than ever for the work that Pride organisations do.

"That isolation that we've all felt through lockdown and through times of fear and worry has been felt in a massive degree among the LGBT community, particularly the young people who may be living at home during the lockdown and don't have a great amount of support."

Denise says she hopes the virtual Pride event will ensure LGBT people know that the group does exist and can signpost them to the right places for support.

You can send your photos and videos of your Pride at Home or Driveway Pride celebrations to be featured during the virtual event to [email protected] or via the Macclesfield Pride Facebook page.

Celebrations get underway throughout Saturday afternoon. Follow along on Macclesfield Pride Facebook page.