SEOUL — Tens of thousands of people marched through the South Korean capital in an LGBT pride festival on Sunday, despite attempts by Christian groups to shut it down.

The atmosphere was defiantly jubilant at the parade, the culmination of the three-week long Korean Queer Culture Festival.

Christian groups have been running a campaign for weeks to try to block the parade. In May, they camped out for a week in front of the police station where parade organizers had to apply for a permit and filed a competing request to hold an event in the same place. Police initially responded by canceling the parade citing the conflicting permit applications, but a court ruled on June 17 that the parade had to be allowed.

The Seoul police deployed thousands of officers to keep order between the queer festival — which began in a large grassy plaza in front of city hall — and eight counter protests that entirely surrounded the area. Here's what happened.