Annapolis Pride celebration set for Saturday, theme "Protecting LGBTQIA+ Youth"
BALTIMORE -- Looking to celebrate Pride Month in Annapolis? The 3rd annual Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival is Saturday.
The parade down West Street begins at noon, and the festival wraps up around 5 p.m. This is a family-friendly event that is free and open to the public.
There will be music and entertainment from two stages. You can enjoy food from 35 food trucks and local restaurants. A "kid zone" will have face painting and a balloon artist.
Nearly 200 vendors and community organizations will set up festival tables. Plus many local businesses plan to open early for the event.
"A lot of folks are coming into town, they're staying at hotels, they're going out to local restaurants and bars, and spending their money there," says Joe Toolan with Annapolis Pride. "So it's a really great way to support Annapolis."
The theme of this year's parade and festival celebration is "Protecting LGBTQIA+ Youth," an issue in the spotlight in Maryland and across the nation.
According to the Trevor Project, more than 150 anti-LGBTQ bills were pre-filed or introduced across 23 states in the first two weeks of 2023.
"We're seeing there are areas where our students are being targeted and bullied in school. And those numbers are even higher if they're trans or people of color in our community," Toolan says. "And we're just seeing the political climate is one where they're not getting the support that they need in all of their spaces, so we want to be there to do that for them."
Click here to learn more about Annapolis Pride and the celebration this weekend.