The London Pride Parade returns for its 50th anniversary

The streets of London are full of color as the British capital celebrates 50 years of Pride

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered to attend or view the celebrations, forming an extravaganza of rainbow flags, glitter, and beads.

After 2 years of being reneged due to the coronavirus pandemic, the parade takes place half a century after the first Pride march in London in 1972.

Saturday's procession followed a similar route to the original, starting outside Hyde Park and winding its way through the streets to Westminster. A concert at Trafalgar Square will follow it.

Chris Joel-Deshields, London-based managing director of Pride, said "important" rights and liberties had been won after the opening event, "but there is still a lot of work to be done."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed a "beautiful day" of "unity, visibility, equality, and solidarity" as he attended the celebrations.

More than 600 LGBTQ groups are expected to participate in the march, which members of the Gay Liberation Front have led since the 1972 protests.

Organizations ranging from charities to universities and emergency services are also represented. However, as in previous years, uniformed officers from the London Metropolitan Police were not among them.

The move came in response to LGBTQ activists expressing concern about their trust in the police, particularly the quality of the police investigation into the murder of serial killer Stephen Port. In 2016, Port was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of four young gay men he had met online.