TODAY sees the launch of Bolton Pride – the start of an awareness-raising weekend about homophobic hate crime.

The festival has a serious purpose, but there will also be plenty of song, laughter and dance and a whole host of things to enjoy.

The theme of this year’s Pride is Reflect, Celebrate, Educate and this will be mirrored by the events taking place over the next three days.

It begins today with an Evening of Remembrance between 4pm and 6.30pm in Victoria Square.

This year’s guest speakers are a diverse group and they will reflect on a variety of LGBT+ issues and experiences.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Bridge will be speaking on behalf of Bolton police, and representing Rainbow Noir will be Tolu Ajaya.

Rainbow Noir is a social and peer support group for LGBT+ people of colour in Manchester.

The group, which was created three years ago, came about from a frustration at the lack of representation of LGBT+ people within LGBT communities and communities of colour.

Former Lord Mayor of Manchester and Mr Gay UK, Carl Austin-Behan, will also be sharing his experiences with the crowd.

As a member of the RAF, he was awarded a bronze medal from the Royal Humane Society for rescuing a pilot from a burning Hawk aircraft. However, he was discharged from the RAF in 1997 for being gay at a time when it was illegal to be openly gay in the RAF.

Chairman of Bolton Youth Council, Nat Entwistle, 15, will be speaking on behalf of the town’s young people.

The council will be interviewing people at this year’s Pride to hear their opinions about how hate crime has changed over the years and to find out how much impact Bolton Pride has had.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Bolton soloist, Dharma Sings, and Rachael Green of Astley Bridge who won third place in Bolton’s Got Talent.

The Bolton Pride team will be switching on the rainbow lights at the town hall at 6.30pm.

There will be plenty of time to change into your corsets and fishnets ready for the 8pm screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Light Cinema.

The film was chosen by Pride fans through a public vote and the cinema’s bar will be open until midnight following the film.

Saturday brings one of the highlights of Bolton Pride – the parade through the town.

This year there is a circus theme, based on the hit musical, The Greatest Showman.

There will be dozens of floats and hundreds of participants at the parade, which sets off from the Chorley New Road entrance of Queen's Park at 11am.

It will follow a route through the park onto Spa Road. It will then travel up Spa Road onto Deansgate and round Le Mans south into Victoria Square.

Then, from 12.30pm there will be six hours of superb musical entertainment and more speeches on the main stage (see panel), with Gareth Gates headlining.

In the evening (from 8pm) The Venue is the place to be for Pride’s I Love The Naughties party. It will be the perfect opportunity to let your hair down and dance yourself dizzy.

Singer and X-Factor personality Lydia Lucy, who has appeared with will.i.am, will be on the bill, along with a Pink tribute act.

And Danny Beard, the multi-award winning cabaret artist, BGT semi- finalist and Drag Idol UK Winner will be adding to the razzle dazzle.

The ‘Educate’ element of Bolton Pride will be at the forefront on Sunday with a family fun day.

Service providers, games, stalls, information stands and a range of activities will be on offer at Victoria Square, Market Place and Newport Street between 11am and 5pm.

For those who still have enough energy left, the weekend concludes with Bolton Pride’s official closing party at The Cave, in The Vaults, from 5pm to 11pm.

It will be the perfect opportunity to raise a glass to raised awareness and enjoy live performances and guest speakers.