5 Photos of Ian McKellen at Manchester Pride to Make You Proud

Manchester Pride held its annual parade on Saturday, and to the crowd's delight, the march was led by none other than Sir Ian McKellen, who was honored with the title of Grand Marshal of the festival. Declan Cashin, reporting for BuzzFeed, collected the best Instagram photos of Sir Ian celebrating in the British streets -- and we couldn't be happier.

According to the BBC, this was the 25th anniversary of Manchester Pride. McKellen, a global LGBT icon best known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and out director Bryan Singer's X-Men franchise, delivered a rousing speech at the end of the day to thousands of attendees, according to Manchester Evening News. Sir Ian came out in 1988 and has been a vocal gay rights campaginer ever since.

During his speech, McKellen brought onstage Keegan Hirst, the rugby star who came out earlier this month, making him Britain's first openly gay professional rugby league player.

Mark Fletcher, chief executive of Manchester Pride, told the BBC that although "we have come a long way in 25 years, there's still a long way to go. Barriers and boundaries are being broken down but there's still more to be done."

We feel confident with Sir Ian McKellen leading the way.

Here's another fantastic photo of Sir Ian McKellen from Saturday's parade @manchesterpride @ianmckellen #manchesterpride #gaypride #parade #ianmckellen #lgbtq #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #queer #gayuk #pride #gandalf

A photo posted by Canal Street Manchester (@canalstreetmedia) on Aug 30, 2015 at 3:45pm PDT

Sir Ian Mckellen!

A photo posted by Emma Cookson (@cookson11) on Aug 30, 2015 at 7:27am PDT

We're ready to go! Sir Ian McKellen leading the way #ManchesterPride

A photo posted by @manchesterpride on Aug 29, 2015 at 4:57am PDT

@ianmckellen Glad you liked my sign! Thanks for the big hug! #ianmckellen #manchesterpride

A photo posted by Adam Davies (@banjo727) on Aug 29, 2015 at 11:43am PDT

#manchesterpride #ianmckellen

A photo posted by Nicola Jane Susan Edwards (@nicolajse95) on Aug 29, 2015 at 7:03am PDT