St. Pete 2014 Night Parade

St. Pete 2014 Night Parade

A light evening breeze helped keep parade revelers cool and comfortable June 28 as more than 100 lighted floats made their way down Third Avenue North and Central Avenue. Saturday alone brought in an estimated 175,000 people to watch the LGBT community put on its first-ever night parade.

According to Eric Skains, executive director of St. Pete Pride, St. Pete Pride will stick with the new night parade/day time festival format again in 2015.

“We’ll definitely keep this format,” said Skains. “As with anything new, there were some growing pains. The good part is it was nothing major that can’t be fixed.”

One critique shared by many revelers who visited the Watermark Media booth during the festival concerned the lighting of the parade. Several who attended the night parade said some floats were difficult to see, as were the people on the floats.

“I wish there had been spotlights or something,” said Greg Hampton, of St. Petersburg. “I didn’t even know the mayor had walked past us. It was just too dark to see him. Some of the floats were spectacular, but others were too dark to determine who they represented.”

Hampton added that he realized many organizations had never participated in a night parade before, and he’s optimistic about the future events.

“Things will get better with time,” he said. “You experience something new, you learn what you need to do to improve. I’ll definitely be back next year and I know it’ll just keep getting better.”

Photos by Jake Stevens.

 

More in Photos

See More