ST. LOUIS, MO – Thousands of pride goers descended on downtown for the 35th anniversary St. Louis PrideFest. The June 28-29 event celebrating the LGBT community came on the heels of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announcing the marriage of four same sex couples at City Hall on Wednesday.
The two day festival, which is produced by Pride St. Louis, Inc., has become a destination event – and a weekend the city of St. Louis proudly promotes. From pride flags flying at City Hall and rainbow crosswalks to the intricate lighting of St. Louis landmarks – the Gateway City stepped up to embrace it’s prismatic diversity.
“We’ve truly turned into a regional festival,” said Ethan Barnett, Vice President of Pride St. Louis. “It’s so special to be downtown and have folks from all over the country come to enjoy our city.”
The capacity crowds browsed hundreds of booths and toured dedicated areas of festival from Athlete’s to Youth villages while the two stages bookending festival hummed with an array of national and local acts.
Sunday’s Wells Fargo Grand Parade was yet another for the record books. The Market street behemoth lasted well over two hours and boasted over 200 entries. Members of the Magnolia Committee, which produced the first St. Louis Pride celebration in April 1980, were this year’s Pride Parade Grand Marshals.
Check out #Boom’s online gallery or hop over to our Facebook page for photos from this past weekend.