Welshpool Pride has been cancelled with just over two weeks to go before the event was due to take place.

The event, due to take place on July 15, was set to be the town’s first ever LGBTQ Pride parade, following the success of Powys Pride in Llandrindod Wells in July 2022.

The concept of a Welshpool pride event was first raised at a town council meeting in December, when drag artist, Andrew James Way, submitted plans to host the event, being staged by by AW Entertainments and Events.

However, on June 26, it was announced that the event had been cancelled as a result of unforeseen circumstances. Now Welshpool Town Council has confirmed the event will not go ahead.

Welshpool Town Clerk Anne Wilson said: “The town council and Andrew James Way have decided not to work together in the near future, meaning that the planned Pride event for 2023 will be cancelled.

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“Welshpool Town Council still supports the initiative of an LGBTQ themed event in town but are not currently considering a specific event to replace the one previously scheduled for July 2023.”

Pride events are celebrated throughout the summer each year, mainly in the months of June and July, to recognise and celebrate LGBTQ rights and history.

In July, 2022, Llandod was home to a landmark event in Powys as members and allies of the LGBTQ community marched in celebration of Powys Pride’s inaugural event.

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The event featured numerous stalls from organisations across Powys such as NHS Cymru, Montgomeryshire Family Crisis Centre, Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations, Montgomeryshire Girl Guides, Umbrella Cymru, and many offering advice to attendees and showing solidarity with the community.

Speaking after last year's Powys Pride event organiser and volunteer Ivy Taylors, who was not involved in the Welshpool event, described the importance of Pride events in rural areas like Mid-Wales.

She said: “I grew up in Powys, and spent 15 years being unsure of my identity, thinking I was the only one who felt this way.

“It’s why events like this are so vital for a community, to meet voices and other perspectives that assure us we are not alone and that allow us to be ourselves amongst ourselves, especially in more isolated rural communities.

“It’s especially important now when homophobic and transphobic rhetoric is being used by politicians as a distraction for their own failures.”