Jacob Platt was a long way from home on June 26. But for some reason the Washington state native felt like he was with family during the Eighth Annual St. Pete Pride Festival.
“I’ve only been here a few months,” said Platt, who said he had never actively participated in an LGBT Pride event. “I moved here because I needed a change of pace—something better. I think I found it.”
Platt was among an estimated 80,000 revelers who turned out for the annual St. Pete Pride Promenade and Street Festival along Central Avenue in the city’s Grand Central District. The eight-block festival was packed with muscled, shirtless men: bikini-clad lesbians, transgender partners and festive rainbow colored outfits of all kinds.
While the official crowd estimate provided by the St. Petersburg police came in at 80,000, St. Pete Pride Executive Director Chris Rudisill ventures to guess that there were more at this year’s celebration.
“I keep hearing from people that say this year’s event felt bigger,” Rudisill said. “The board thinks there were more people who stayed throughout the day.”
Police base their estimate on aerial photographs and then calculate how many people are in a certain percentage of the photo and multiply that figure accordingly. Rudisill said that number only captures one moment during a day-long event.
Regardless of the number attending, the St. Pete Pride was deemed a success by Rudisill, the board and a majority of those attending.
It keeps going and going
Once again the Promenade drew in thousands of spectators—and more than a hundred entries.
The 2010 Promenade was the biggest in St. Pete Pride’s eight year history. According to board members, the 100-plus entries created the longest train of floats down Central Avenue. Staples like the Tampa Bay Bears, the Tampa Leather Club, and media giants *tbt and the St. Petersburg Times were joined by newcomers The Flamingo Resort and the Wells Fargo Stagecoach.
“I think that was one of the longest parades I’ve ever seen,” said Robyn Molina, a Lakeland lesbian who watched the promenade with her partner. “But I think it was cool. Seeing so many different organizations represented really makes you realize how far we’ve come and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.”
Many floats kept the “Pride in Paradise” theme while others tried to encapsulate the “Family” theme promoted by the board this year. For Rudisill, the theme worked, especially based on the news media coverage he saw the day of Pride and the following week.
“I think people got it,” Rudisill said. “It was nice to see people getting interviewed who were there with their families. It’s a fun day for everyone and we wanted to make sure that all families felt welcome.”
As in previous years, St. Pete Pride offered a children’s play zone complete with a bounce house and a slide. Rudisill said both same-sex parents and opposite-gender parents brought children to the area.
“Pride is about celebrating who we are and we really wanted to showcase the adoption issue,” Rudisill said. “Pride recognizes the history of Stonewall, and it’s still about fighting for equality and standing up for who we are and representing how large our community is. We should be recognized as a part of the community and that is one of the biggest battles for us here in the state of Florida—to overturn the adoption ban.”
Mayoral presence
For the first time, the Mayor of St. Petersburg recognized St. Pete Pride by attending the Stonewall Commemorative Reception. Bill Foster attended the event at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts two days before the Street Festival and mingled with St. Pete Pride board members and sponsors.
“I’m pleased to be here,” Foster said when another attendee thanked him for his appearance. “This is a good crowd.”
Foster has reportedly helped with the details between the city and St. Pete Pride this year but has not publicly endorsed the event. According to Rudisill, Foster showed up at the Street Festival prior to the parade.
“I’ve been told that he was there from about 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. or so and that he didn’t think the festival had changed much since 2006, when he thought it was too adult-themed,” Rudisill said. “But as one of our board members said, St. Pete Pride is tamer than Gasparilla would ever hope to be and the number of shirtless men is no different than what you’d see at St. Pete’s Ribfest. This is Florida and its summer. It’s hot.”
Heat wave
According to local meteorologists, temperatures on the day of St. Pete Pride stayed in the mid-90s, but the heat index was above 100 degrees. Factor in the heat from the asphalt and attendees felt sweltering heat all day long.
“I don’t think it’s ever been this hot during the festival,” said Robert Huerta, who said he has attended every St. Pete Pride. “I wish there were some misters or something. I don’t know how long I’ll be here today.”
While clear skies and sunshine made for a very dry day, that doesn’t mean that weather wasn’t a factor. The high temperatures took their toll on the crowd and resulted in about 10 or so heat-related medical incidents. None were severe.
“I heard about most of them through the radio but by the time I’d get there, the EMTs were already there and taking care of it,” Rudisill said. “Again, the city was great to work with and they took care of things in a quickly and timely manner.”
The city also provided police services, which patrolled the festival throughout the day. No arrests were reported in the St. Pete Pride area and only one minor confrontation between a festival-goer and a protestor had made it onto Rudisill’s radar.
Despite the excessive heat, Rudisill said that St. Pete Pride has no plans to change the date of the annual festival, since it commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
“The date is important,” Rudisill said. “It’s about recognizing that history. However, we are open to suggestions on ways to improve the experience and to make it more comfortable. Maybe we should start it an hour earlier? Maybe it should be a night time festival? We’re always looking for input.”
Several years ago it was rumored that St. Pete Pride would move toward the waterfront and away from the Grand Central District. Rudisill said there are no plans to do that in the future.
Minor issues
When an event bringing in more than 80,000 people descends upon a community, glitches are bound to happen. The Eighth Annual St. Pete Pride celebration was no exception.
Several people who attended the street festival reported that their cars were towed, even though they parked in a lot they said was marked as parking in the St. Pete Pride Program. Others complained about the lines of empty tables piled with trash alongside the 300-plus vendor booths.
“We had some people who canceled the last minute and we had miscommunication with the city regarding the tables,” Rudisill said. “We’ve dealt with it and we can improve on that next year. We’ve talked with the city and we want to focus more on recycling.”
Rudisill said volunteers cleared the tables by the middle of the afternoon. He added that he wasn’t aware of a large number of cars towed, but he did say there was a change concerning handicapped parking.
“We handled that through local media outlets and the city put out a press release,” Rudisill said.
A closing night gala was also a disappointment for several St. Pete Pride attendees, who forked over $25 for a drag show at Jannus Live downtown. The show hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Pandora Boxx did happen, but nearly four hours after its schedule start time.
“It was unorganized and there was delay after delay,” Rudisill said. “It was put on by a sponsor of ours who wanted to use our logo and our name. We won’t be doing that again. I apologized to two of the contestants.”
The gala was produced by Swing Tyme Entertainment. By the time the gala was wrapped, contestant Maya VanCartier was named “Queen of the Night,” although most of the crowd had already left.
Ready for 2011
Despite the few setbacks, the overall feeling of St. Pete Pride 2010 was a positive one. Rudisill said the board is already working on the 2011 event and that more St. Pete Pride events could spring up over the year.
“We have some plans in the works,” he said, without giving too much detail. “Pride is a year-long feeling and we want to incorporate that.”
Pride 2010 may be a thing of the past, but Platt, who attended the festival earlier in the day, has nothing but rave reviews for his first Pride experience.
“This is just an amazing feeling,” Platt said. “I’m out and my family knows I’m gay. But to stand here with so many friendly, happy and excited people who are so comfortable showing who they are is almost indescribable. I’ve liked it here since I moved, but now I know I belong here.”
Watermark‘s St. Pete Pride photo galleries:
Miss FUZE Pageant
Stonewall Commemorative Reception
Pride in Fashion
St. Pete Pride Street Festival
St. Pete Pride Promenade
