Tampa Pride exceeds expectations for the second year in a row

TAMPA – From the early morning breakfast buffet at Hamburger Mary’s to the late night after parties at Ybor’s plethora of bars, Tampa Pride’s second year brought large crowds of people to every corner of the historic district March 26.

“What a great day,” Carrie West, Tampa Pride president, says. “People were here from all over the country. I am very happy and proud of the hard working Tampa Pride Directors and the hundreds of volunteers.”

Tampa Pride had a few issues to contend with for the 2016 festival and parade. One of which was attempting to match the larger than expected crowds from last year.

Tampa Pride’s 2015 event had near 30,000 people attended, almost double from what was expected, in part due to the Florida State Thespians holding their festival the same weekend.

“Last year we had lots of high school drama students from all over the country with their parents walking around the festival which we don’t have this year,” West said in an interview with Watermark prior to March 26’s celebration.

The Florida State Thespian’s festival was held the weekend before Tampa Pride this year.

Even without the Florida State Thespians, Tampa Pride had a significant increase in attendees this year.

“One told about 40,000 and another official said 50,000. Both are great numbers on a day that said there would be an 80 percent chance of rain storms. All I can say is Mother Nature looked over Tampa Pride this year,” West says.

The larger crowds may have more to do with those who helm Tampa Pride and less to do with the weather or conjoining events.

“It took 10 months of planning and working behind the scenes for this major festival,” West says. “The festival had a great showcase of local businesses with more than 120 vendors as well as top entertainment from the Tampa Bay area.”

Tampa Pride moved the festival from 8th Street to Centennial Park, increasing the space and working alongside Ybor Saturday Market to expand the crowds.

Tampa resident Jeremy Wade Neiman volunteered to work the Budweiser beer truck as a member of Balance Tampa Bay. Neiman can’t see a better way to celebrate the local LGBT community than giving back during your own city’s Pride.

“I’m happy to travel to other cities for Pride celebrations however there is something extra special about having the opportunity to participate where you live,” Neiman says. “I spent the afternoon volunteering, raising money to benefit Metro Wellness for their LGBTQ Youth Programs. It was a great opportunity to bring awareness to local organizations and everyone’s generosity was greatly appreciated.”

West heard from many of the attendees who all filled him in on the parts they enjoyed the most, but he had several moments during Tampa Pride that stuck out for him.

“The historic Key West Rainbow Flag returning from Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia,” West says. “The Tampa Bay Rainbow Pride Band also gave an awesome and teary performance in the pre-parade celebration on 7th Ave.”

A highlight for many in attendance was the parade down 7th Street, led by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

“We had over 130 celebrities, organizations, businesses, political leaders and candidates,” West says. “Over 4,000 people participated in the parade alone.”

With all the traditional staples of a Pride celebration in place – the parade, the drag queens, the local LGBT businesses – one thing that stuck out at Tampa Pride was the involvement of companies and businesses not traditionally LGBT.

Among the usual suspects of sponsors like Hamburger Mary’s, Metro Wellness & Community Centers and Watermark Publishing Group; companies like the convenience store Wawa, military bank USAA and auto group AAA joined local sports teams Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Rays on the list of more than 75 sponsors for Tampa Pride.

The same story applied to the local shops, bars and restaurants in Ybor.

“The party celebration wasn’t just for the gay bars and businesses,” West says. “All of them from 14th Street to 19th Street had packed and solid business.”

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