MELBOURNE, Fla. | Space Coast Pride returns with its Pridefest celebration in downtown Melbourne Sept. 23. The festivities will include a parade, festival, live entertainment and more.
Space Coast Pride’s parade, featuring over 50 community groups, organizations, local businesses and corporations, will kick off at 11 a.m. starting at the Melbourne Auditorium. The parade will also feature Space Coast Pride’s inaugural Trans Visibility March, which is in partnership with Spektrum Health.
The parade route will move south on Lake St. to E. Fee Ave., then west to Oak St. running south across E. Strawbridge Ave. to E. New Haven Ave., then on to Livingston St. to the dispersal point.
The parade will spotlight several LGBTQ+ leaders in the community including this year’s Grand Marshals: Trans rights activist Kathryn Hagen of Spektrum Health, Space Coast Pride’s Jenna Ramsey aka DJ Missdirection and Addisyn Mayer, Pride’s Youth Grand Marshal. Space Coast Pride will also honor Michael Bloom, an LGBTQ+ advocate and founding member of numerous service organizations within the community, with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The parade will be followed by the Pridefest Festival, taking place along E. New Haven Ave. from 12-6 p.m., will consist of over 130 vendors including local artisans, merchants, small businesses, corporations, food trucks and more. The family-friendly atmosphere of the event will be highlighted by Space Coast Pride’s designated Kid’s Zone and a special butterfly tent.
The festival will also feature live entertainment from an array of performers including LGBTQ+ country music sensation Glenn Stewart, “American Idol” star Alisabeth Von Presley and NBC’s “The Voice” contestant Karina Iglesias as well as local drag talent Shelita Taylor, Azhia Li Kinkade, Bridgette Galore, Erikka Caine and more.
Space Coast Pride’s theme this year is “Out of this world. United in Pride!” The theme is meant to encapsulate the community’s “unwavering commitment to celebrating diversity, fostering unity, and expressing our shared pride in who we and the community we serve are.”
Space Coast Pride held its Pridefest celebration in 2019 in the Historic Eau Gallie Arts District, which attracted more than 12,000 attendees, before holding virtual celebrations in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pride organization returned to an in-person festival in Historic Downtown Melbourne for the first time in 2022, bringing out more than 15,000 people for the parade and festival.
For more information, visit SpaceCoastPride.org.
