Organizers expect up to 500,000 people to come to Columbus this weekend for the 37th annual , one of the largest such events in the Midwest.
The festival portion of Pride starts Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and runs until 11 p.m. at Bicentennial and Genoa Parks in downtown Columbus. It resumes Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The parade starts Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Goodale and High Streets in the Short North.
Instead of a grand marshal, this year鈥檚 parade will be led by volunteers with , a Columbus-based organization that works to bridge social divides through the arts, education and volunteer community services.
There are political overtones to this year鈥檚 parade after four protesters were arrested while blocking last year鈥檚 Pride parade. The division between Pride organizer Stonewall Columbus and the group eventually led to the creation of another LGBTQ event, the . It鈥檚 scheduled for Saturday at Mayme Moore Park on Mount Vernon Avenue.
Despite the conflict, Stonewall Columbus鈥� interim executive director Deb Steele says many people are ready to just let loose and party this weekend.
鈥淥ur community knows how to throw a good party,鈥� Steele said on 星空无限传媒's . 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 so important because some folks who come to Pride, (it鈥檚) their only day out of the year or weekend out of the year, let鈥檚 say if they鈥檙e coming from a small town or something like that, that they can fully celebrate who they are.鈥�
The Columbus Division of Police around this year鈥檚 festival, but Chief Kim Jacobs did not say how many officers will be in attendance. She says both uniformed and plain-clothed officers will be at Pride through the weekend.
Jacobs said officers will not attend the Black, Queer & Intersectional Festival as long as there are no complaints.
Also in town this weekend: A large crowd of protesters is expected to greet him at the Columbus Renaissance hotel with a "big LGBTQ dance party," shutting down Gay Street from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
