Belfast city centre will be alive to the sound and colour of the Belfast Pride parade tomorrow, the culmination of a week of events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in the North.

Last year, a record 6,000 people took part, and organisers anticipate that the 2007 parade will be even bigger, with up to 8,000 people streaming down Royal Avenue in full flamboyant regalia.

This year's huge, carnivalesque event will be a far cry from the first parade in 1991, when only a handful of marchers took part, and were jeered at by passersby.

Today, it is clear that the Pride parade is moving towards the mainstream. Businesses are encouraged to advertise in it and, for the first time, local radio station Cool FM will broadcast its Saturday night dance show live from the closing night party at Custom House Square.

Volunteer marshals will be assisted by an outside security agency - necessary, the Pride team say, to deal with the huge numbers of partygoers expected to descend on the square.

Yet isn't there a risk that the intense community spirit of Pride may be lost? "Not at all," said Liam Larmour, co-ordinator of Belfast Pride. "There's a balance to be struck: while the parade itself and the community events throughout Pride week concentrate on gay rights, the party is more open . . . The popularity of the event shows a growing acceptance in the wider community."

Andi Clarke, a member of the Pride committee, said: "It's about bringing Pride to a new audience; we want to be as diverse as possible. There's definitely a new spirit of tolerance out there."

The Stop the Parade Coalition, a group of born-again Christians who want to halt the Pride parade, have been less vocal this year than in previous years.