It’s 1999 – teaching children about being gay is banned and same sex marriage is 15 years away, but one corner of Cardiff stages a celebration of all things LGBTQ+. Wales’ first Pride was modest, to put it mildly, with about 2,500 people and a stage “essentially the back of an articulated lorry,” said drag artist Rob Keetch. Now, a quarter of a century on, Cardiff Pride has grown to a two-day festival attracting tens of thousands. “If you told me then that 25 years later we would go from 2,500 to 25,000 and now 50,000 I would have never believed you,” said Rob. The first Pride, on 4 September 1999, was held in Bute Park and was over and done with inside four hours.