Despite a threatening weather forecast, the 9th Annual St. Pete Pride promenade and Street Festival was a successâ┚¬â€Âsmashing previous attendance records and bringing a celebratory mood to the city's Grand Central District June 25.
No official estimates as to how many attended this year's street festival were immediately available, but many in the crowd said they felt it seemed larger and more populated than last year's event, which hosted 80,000-plus people.
â┚¬Å”It's just wall-to-wall-people and it's a sea of color,â┚¬Â said Sam Holbrook, who attended with his partner. â┚¬Å”This has to be the biggest one yet. I've never seen so many people here and I've been to almost every St. Pete Pride.â┚¬ÂÂ
St. Pete Pride Executive Director Chris Rudisill echoed that sentiment and said that almost everyone he spoke with said the festival seemed larger.
â┚¬Å”The consensus seems to be that we hit 80,000 easily and many felt that the crowd seemed larger this year,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”I also think people stayed longer this year, which is always great news to the many businesses and organizations that take part each year.â┚¬ÂÂ
Early morning setup teams saw a few minor showers while vendor tents and booths were preppedâ┚¬â€Âbut once the promenade began, the rain clouds cleared and the festival enjoyed its usual warm, sunny temperatures.
â┚¬Å”I was worried this morning,â┚¬Â said Allison Frank, who debated on whether she should make the drive from Bradenton for the festival. â┚¬Å”I watched the news and kept telling my friends, â┚¬ËœWe're going to get nailed with downpours.' I'm so glad the weather guys were wrong!â┚¬ÂÂ
The clouds and an earlier start time seemed to have kept medical emergencies to a minimum as well. Rudisill said that there were no major incidents and only a few minor medical-related issues were reported.
â┚¬Å”As always, the city worked quickly to make sure everyone was taken care of,â┚¬Â he said.â┚¬ÂÂ
Even though official crowd estimates were unavailable, it was obvious that this year's promenade had more entries this year. More than 100 float entries weaved through the Kenwood Neighborhood before marching down Central Avenue.
â┚¬Å”I took some comfort in seeing so many accepting churches taking part in Pride,â┚¬Â Frank said. â┚¬Å”Like so many of the people here, I grew up in a church that told me I was wrong for feeling same-sex attraction. This proves that churches really do accept us and it was so heartening to see that love right in the middle of the street!â┚¬ÂÂ
Unfortunately, it wasn't all love on June 25. A small band of protesters made their annual appearance along the side of the parade route, ruffling the feathers of some in attendance. One unidentified festival-goer had a few choice words for the protestors, telling them that
â┚¬Å”God doesn't make mistakes, so just deal with it.â┚¬Â A male couple took the opportunity to show their affection by kissing affectionately in front of the small group.
Others in attendance didn't even know protestors were nearby.
â┚¬Å”This is the first I'm hearing of them,â┚¬Â said Colby Schwartz, who spent most of his day listening to the bands on the Jagermeister Main Stage. â┚¬Å”I figured they finally gave it up and realized they couldn't stop us from being who we are. I haven't seen them or noticed them. But I guess it's easy to get swallowed up in such a large crowd.â┚¬ÂÂ
According to Rudisill, there were no arrests this year and no major incidents involving the â┚¬Å”very few protestors.â┚¬ÂÂ
Destination Pride
It wasn't just locals who enjoyed the festivities. Many people visiting the booths along the eight-block festival shared that they were from across the stateâ┚¬â€Âand some from Georgia.
Scott Koonce and his partner Bret Peterson drove from Fort Lauderdale to set up their booth of Nu Amsterdam Clothingâ┚¬â€Âand they were happy to make the trek.
â┚¬Å”This is an opportunity to get our product out and we've been busy all day,â┚¬Â Koonce said shortly after the promenade ended. â┚¬Å”We haven't sold as much as we'd like yet, but it's still early. We expect to stay busy until we break down at three.â┚¬ÂÂ
For Josef Godwin, St. Pete Pride was an excuse to take a vacation away from the more conservative panhandle.
â┚¬Å”We have a few events throughout the year up in the panhandle, but nothing quite like this,â┚¬Â said Godwin, who lives â┚¬Å”near Destin.â┚¬Â I decided to drive down and spend the weekend and soak up the culture. I am very glad I didâ┚¬â€Âthis is beyond what I expected.â┚¬ÂÂ
A weekend of events
For 2011 Grand Marshal Rev. Troy Perry, St. Pete Pride was a weekend of eventsâ┚¬â€Ânot just an appearance in Saturday's large promenade. Perry made an appearance at the annual Stonewall Commemorative Reception at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday, June 23, and was the guest of honor at a special dinner on Friday, June 24, at the Poynter Institute.
At both events he took time to visit with locals and share his experience of starting the Metropolitan Community Church.
â┚¬Å”I really do enjoy these events and I'm honored to be invited here by the St. Pete Pride board,â┚¬Â Perry said during the Stonewall Reception. â┚¬Å”This is an amazing opportunity and everyone has been incredibly kind. It makes you proud to see so many out and proud people in one city. We've come a long way.â┚¬ÂÂ
This is the first time Perry has been a grand marshal on Florida's mainland. The only other Florida Pride festival he's grand marshaled was in Key West.
While Perry was meeting supporters at the special dinner at the Poynter Institute on Friday, throngs of other revelers ventured out to the Tyrone Square Mall, where two-time Olympic figure skater and silver medalist Johnny Weir and local RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 finalist Alexis Mateo hosted the Macy's Pride in Fashion show.
The two, who had never met before, had amazing chemistry and kept the crowds entertained while beautiful male and female models showed off the latest fashions. After the event both stayed around for photos with fans and even signed autographs.
More coverage of the 9th Annual St. Pete Pride Festivities will be available in the July 7 issue of Watermark.
