ABOVE: Attendees gather on the COWP parade route in downtown Orlando 2019. (Photo by Dylan Todd)
ORLANDO | Come Out With Pride (COWP) announced that this October’s annual Pride celebration would be a combination of socially distanced and virtual events. The announcement was made during a Facebook Live event July 23.
COWP board president Jeff Prystajko says that while the Pride parade will look very different, it is still going to happen.
“One of the things we said is that virtual events are great, and those are still going to be an aspect of what we’re doing this year, but I think a lot of us miss that feeling of unity from Pride that we’ve come to experience in the past, being able to see our friends … That part of it, if there was a way for us to do that in a really safe way then we would strive for that,” Prystajko says.
This year’s Pride parade, scheduled for Oct. 10, will be a 15+ mile long car parade through Orlando.
“We saw a lot of this online over the past few months with birthdays, graduations and other types of events; so we said what if we did that but then super-sized it?” Prystajko says.
While the specific route has not been revealed yet, Prystajko says the Pride caravan will go by a lot of LGBTQ establishments, local landmarks around the city and will pass through every neighborhood.
“We know it’s not going to be the same but we are still going to have a lot of decorated vehicles, a shared playlist so all the cars will be able to blast the same music, so people will know that we are still celebrating,” he says. “We want to make sure that Orlando knows that the LGBTQ+ community is visible and we are still in the fight for equality.”
The parade will still feature grand marshals (to be named at a later time) who will lead the caravan of cars and will help to being focus to several issues and causes that have been in the 2020 spotlight including the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing attacks on the transgender community, particularly against Black trans women.
After the parade, COWP’s celebration will head online with what is being called a “Virtual Super-sized Extravaganza.” While COWP has several “Stay In With Pride” virtual events under its belt, Prystajko says the COWP Extravaganza is going to be different from what we saw in those live streams.
“We are going to have a lot of surprises with this one so I can’t spill the beans too much, he says. “This one will be less of a live show and more pre-planned and pre-shot performances. We want to make sure that we are going out and including more people in the community, including more local personalities. We want to include some of our local LGBTQ chefs like Trina and others. There are a lot of areas of the community we want to showcase.”
The week of Pride events that COWP began a couple of years ago will continue, but just as with the parade and festival, they will be different than prior years.
“[COWP’s] focus, from an organizational standpoint, will be looking at what we are doing on that Saturday,” Prystajko says. “We will be partnering with other organizations for that week to bring more events to the community.”
It is still early in the development process so many events are not confirmed yet, but one making its return is Zebra Coalition’s popular Drag Race 5K.
“The weekend of Oct. 9-11 anyone, it doesn’t only have to be people in Orlando, can sign up and do a virtual race at their own time and location,” Prystajko says. Then you can come back, post your time, earn your medal and be a part of the race.”
Other possible events include smaller, socially-distanced gatherings and a drive-in movie night. Along with collaborated events, Prystajko says that COWP is encouraging any businesses and organizations that want to put on their own event — whether virtually or a socially distanced in-person one — to reach out so they can be included it on the Pride calendar.
“We want to make sure that Central Florida knows we are celebrating Pride and being visible this year,” he says. “So the more attention we can help give to other events we want to do that.”
With that said, Prystajko reminds anyone holding or coming out to any in-person events to remember the safety of the attendees is the most important part.
“We are counting on our partners and any organization that might be putting on an event to celebrate Pride that they will follow CDC guidelines,” he says. “That everyone is wearing a mask, that social distance recommendations are followed.”
For more information and to stay up-to-date on COWP’s events, visit ComeOutWithPride.com.
