Big Day Out Style, Maidstone

Today we decided to pop into town as it was its "Big Day Out" festival to celebrate the Borough's natural beauty and outdoor spaces which involved community led initiatives with various organisations and volunteers putting on activities. We chose to visit the Big Gay Out family picnic in Brenchley Gardens organised by the local LGBTQ+ community. It was such a joyous, vibrant and relaxed event with everyone there just to have a lovely time.
With the main image I really wanted to capture a moment before the event kicked off in earnest. Everyone was set to go (including what looked like the official photographer for the event) but not yet fully engaged with their audience. I do like those "in between" fleeting moments before a performance or activity begins. The drag queens later belted out some musical numbers and richly entertained the crowd.
The first extra features people who are part of the Furries community - they are people interested in anthropomorphic animals. It extends to creating and embodying characteristics known as "fursonas" through art, writing and elaborate costumes. Furry fandom is a diverse community and there is a significant overlap with the LBGTQ+ community. They looked amazing but they must have been so hot as it was really warm day. I also included the image as I inadvertently managed to capture my brother in the background as well!
The last image is of two of the event security staff - they were there  just in case anything untoward happened (it didn't). I loved their colourful rainbow headgear so had to capture them looking out over the crowd. We had such great time recording the event and everyone was welcoming. I met one of the volunteers and I complimented him on his wonderful rainbow suit (he's just walking out of shot in the main image). He thanked me and then said "look I've got matching socks - I've also got matching pants but I can't show you those!" and we both laughed.
The only worry is that Maidstone Borough Council may well be subsumed into Kent County Council which is now run by the odious Reform party. They have already removed the Ukraine and rainbow flags from the council chamber and have threatened to defund "woke" and DEI initiatives so events like this may not happen in the future unless they get funding from elsewhere which would be a crying shame.