On Sunday, hundreds of people were in attendance for the 30th anniversary of the Philly Pride Parade and Festival. The rain didn’t turn away many individuals on hand to celebrate LGBTQ unity and solidarity, according to 6ABC News.
As the report indicates, the route for the 30th-anniversary parade went from 12th and Locust streets to Festival Pier with crowds gathered to party. The latest celebration of pride involved floats, performances, and even a marriage proposal as one gay couple decided to take their relationship to the next stage. The proposal took place on stage as a crowd watched and cheered on the man who had just been proposed to.
6ABC News’ Christie Ileto provided a report from Center City with comments from a variety of spectators, performers, and other people involved in the festivities. A male parade spectator commented, “It’s fun, it’s really good.” One woman said it was her first time and added, “I never want to miss another party again,” showing just how much fun the latest celebration was.
The 30th-anniversary of Philadelphia’s event comes due to the fact that the city hosted a major coordinated gay pride parade in a festival in 1988 after a decade with no events held. The original event was sponsored by the Lesbian and Gay Task Force. Community leaders decided that based on the success of the event, there should be more of them in the future and created an organization known as Philly Pride Presents. This organization is responsible for bringing the pride parade to Philly over the past 30 years.
The latest Philly Pride Parade featured over six hours of entertainment with comedian Margaret Cho headlining. 6ABC’s Ileto indicated that due to “on and off rain” much of the evening festivities that were planned had to be moved indoors. However, it appears that the latest event celebrating pride in Philadelphia was a success with many parade-goers wondering how next year’s edition of the festivities will top this year’s.
