Downtown Houston prepares for another Pride festival and parade – Houston Public Media

Pride Houston 365 will celebrate the city’s LGBTQ+ community on Saturday with a festival and parade, much like the nonprofit has done for decades.

Perhaps the all-day event, held downtown outside Houston City Hall, could also be seen as a celebration of the organization’s own perseverance, which has overcome a series of challenges in recent years.

In 2021, Pride Houston sued its former executive director for fraud and embezzlement, citing litigation costs, as well as a series of heat-related illnesses and capacity issues at its 2022 festival, as reasons why the festival was canceled last year and held only a parade. Then a competing nonprofit emerged last year, Houston’s New Faces of Pride, which changed its name after being sued by Pride Houston for trademark infringement. The new group also held its own festival and parade last Saturday.

Tiffany Scales, Pride Houston’s director of community engagement, declined to discuss the other organization or its events in an interview Friday with Houston Public Mediashe explained, wanting to focus on celebrating this Saturday. It is expected to draw a larger crowd than last week and have about twice as many parade participants, according to Susan Christian, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.

“This year’s theme is, ‘You will not break our pride,’ and that statement resonates in every facet of the community,” Scales said. “This celebration is one of the most important, one of the most fought for and supported. We are going to get the one we have worked for. We have been working since July of last year, for this weekend.”

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Scales said Pride Houston is “excited” to bring back its festival this year, with an increased number of refreshment and hydration stations to help attendees cope with the summer heat. The festival is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the parade starting at 7:20 p.m. and live entertainment in between.

Participation in the parade is free, as is the festival for participants aged under 21 and over 54. Separately, entry to the festival costs $5 in advance or $10 at the door, and VIP experiences costing $225 remained available Friday afternoon.

The list of artists lined up by Pride Houston includes headliner K. Michelle as well as David Archuleta, Brooke Eden and Kayla G. There will also be a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Pride Houston founder Larry Bagneris, according to Scales, and local businesses and organizations will be among the vendors in attendance.

Christian said the city was prepared to host a crowd of about 50,000 people, which she said was the post-pandemic average for annual Pride Houston events. Last Saturday’s festival and parade organized by Houston’s New Faces of Pride drew about 5,000 people, according to Christian.

“It’s a historic date, the last Saturday in June, that has been going on for a very, very long time,” Christian said. “Everyone is used to this date.”

Just like in 2022, strong heat is expected for the 46^th Annual event hosted by Pride Houston. Daytime temperatures are expected to reach 95 degrees, with heat index values ​​as high as 111, according to the National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston office, which issued a heat advisory for noon to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Christian said city officials “are really confident that the resources are what they need,” but also encouraged those planning to attend to start hydrating Friday and wearing sunscreen, hats, light-colored clothing and comfortable shoes.

Scales encouraged local residents to join Pride Houston in celebrating its 46th anniversary^th annual event and the LGBTQ+ community in general.

“If you have never had the opportunity to witness something so celebratory, so useful, so diverse, so honoring to those who have died or sacrificed, this is the time to come,” Scales said.