St. Petersburg – The excitement of St. Pete Pride’s first night parade may finally beginning to fade, but that doesn’t mean the organization is done celebrating this year. On July 15, St. Pete Pride announced the winners of the St. Pete Pride Parade Awards.
Seven organizations were recognized for their creativity, spirit and participation and St. Pete Pride executive director Eric Skains released the list via email July 15.
“The paraders were better than ever this year,” Skains wrote. “However, there were a few standouts. Congratulations to these folks for winning this year’s St. Pete Pride Parade Awards.”
The Aria Award went to the GaYborhood Coalition, which had spectacular sound. The “Fabulous Award” for best costumes as presented by New Hope Auto & Truck Services and the Rainbow Award for best lighting went to The Birchwood. The Birchwood also won the Spirit of St. Pete Award, which means it was selected as the “Best Overall” parade float.
Other winners included the Tampa Bay Outlaws, where given the “Ruby Slipper Award” for being the best walkers and General Electric Aviation, which took the “Pink Diamond Award” for being the Best for-profit entry.
The Best non-profit award, called the Priscilla Award, was given to the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas.
This year’s St. Pete Pride Parade on the evening of June 28 attracted more than 175,000 people. The festival the following day produced 40,000 attendees, making the weekend long event the first LGBT Pride celebration in Florida to surpass the 200,000 attendance mark.
