TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Organizers tell me, this years turnout at Pride in the Park is the largest they've seen since it started in 2008.
The annual celebration is all about promoting peace and understanding among races, genders and sexual identities.
Hundreds come to Pride in the Park every year to be a part of the sense of community it brings.
Tallahassee resident, Dawn Betts-Green, says she grew up in a home where being gay was not part of their culture.
She says, there was no gay community in the small Alabama town she grew up in.
It wasn't until Betts-Green moved to Tallahassee for college that she was able to be herself at events like Saturday's.
"To be able to come out here and be ourselves and not have to worry about what might happen to us or who might say something odd because we're trying to be ourselves is just amazing," said Betts-Green. "And I think that's why we're all out here."
Betts-Green says, at festivals, like this one, she always bumps into familiar faces who she didn't know were part of the PRIDE community until events like Pride in the Park.
Local vendors and organizations set up tables throughout Kleman Plaza.
Local bands and drag queen performers also hit the stage, pumping up the crowd.
