Erie Celebrates 30 Years of Pride Events with Pridefest and the Pride Parade!

 

All the colors of the rainbow were once again flying proudly in Erie on the afternoon of Saturday, June 25, as the Erie region came together to celebrate Pride. The parade stepped off from The Zone Dance Club with roughly two thousand participants traveling along West 18th Street before turning north on State Street and ending in Perry's Square for the 30th Annual Pride Fest.

This year Erie was able to celebrate an in person event after the last two years were forced to be virtual because of the pandemic. With a crowd of about five thousand for Pride Fest, it was by far one of the largest Pride event the city has seen.

Since Pride was coming back to an in person event for the first time in two years, the NW PA Pride Alliance wanted make it bigger than before. With their community partners, the Alliance was able to do just that. For the first time ever, Pride was able to celebrate in the entirety of Perry's Square.

NW PA Pride Alliance would like to thank our community partners Safe Journey and Central Outreach along with the Erie Playhouse for helping to sponsor the zones throughout the park. The Alliance is also very thankful for all the support they received from Mayor Joe Schember and the Erie City Police who provided security for the entire event.

The fun continued on Sunday with the third annual Drive Your Pride around Presque Isle State Park. Attendees gathered at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center with their decorated vehicles and then set off at two o'clock to parade around the park.