Parade crews worked overnight, putting finishing touches on this year's celebration, which carried the theme "Rise with Pride."
By 8:30 a.m., Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue began seeing a flood of floats, with vehicles and marchers adorned in rainbows, sequins and t-shirts with messages of love and inclusion.
The colorful march set off from Sunset and Highland Avenue at 11 a.m. The parade culminated with a festival on Hollywood Boulevard.
This year's parade was hosted by Gio Benitez, "Good Morning America" Saturday and Sunday co-anchor and ABC News transportation correspondent, and ABC7 Eyewitness News anchors John Gregory, Rachel Brown and Tony Cabrera.
Thousands attend 56th Annual LA Pride Parade in Hollywood
Eyewitness News reporters David González, Kevin Ozebek and Liz Nagy also reported from the parade route.
"You know, people just want to be loved and respected, right? And that's what this is all about," Tony said.
The bright colors and show-stopping floats united the community and encouraged everyone to rise with pride.
Christopher Street West Association, the nonprofit that organized the world's first permitted LGBTQ+ parade in 1970, driving home the importance of these celebrations.
"'Rise with Pride' is more than a theme, it's a responsibility," said Lawrence Carroll, CSW Board President. "This year especially, it's important that we listen to our community and respond intentionally."
One of the organizations that lined up early for parade time was AMAAD Institute, which arms minorities in South L.A. against addiction and disease.
AMAAD executive director Gerald Garth said L.A. Pride is important as it reflects his organization's mission of making people feel seen and heard.
"We wanted to be here representing, as we say, South L.A. on purpose," Garth said. "We provide a great number of programs and services by individuals that look like, live like and love like our communities."
Actor and comedian Jason Stuart, who arrived early to march, said he was reminded of his first Pride in 1984.
"I remember seeing (PFLAG), and I was so overcome, I completely lost it, and I started crying like a baby boy," Stuart said. "I remember thinking, 'God, there is a space for me, some place.'"
This year's parade featured Emmy-winning actor and comedian Jeff Hiller as its Celebrity Grand Marshal.
Transgender L.A.-based criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist Mia Yamamoto was also featured as Community Grand Marshal, and the late Shirley Raines was featured as the Icon Grand Marshal.
"Every time we come together, it is in the spirit of resistance, uprising, and rising together," Yamamoto said.
Raines founded Beauty 2 the Streetz, becoming a transformative figure in Los Angeles' Skid Row community. She died in 2026.