Long Beach Pride Parade marches on as scheduled despite festival cancellation
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- The Long Beach Pride Parade marched on as scheduled on Sunday morning after the city abruptly canceled this weekend's Pride Festival over permitting issues.
"Fearless and free" -- that was the theme of this year's 43rd-annual Long Beach Pride Parade, bringing together the LGBTQ+ community, residents, restaurants and local leaders.
One Long Beach local said it brought a heartwarming feeling of representation.
"We have to continue to be out here with everything that is going on in the climate right now, we have to ensure that we continue to show up, know that we are here, that we exist, and that we are important," Rosie Wolfrum said.
The parade kicked off in downtown Long Beach and made its way down Ocean Boulevard, which was lined with supporters on the street cheering on the historic 141 floats filled with pride decorations, music and freebies.
"It's beautiful to see a lot of people around and come and support us in any shape, any race, any people, anybody... this is humanity," attendee Raul Medina said.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Long Beach Pride Festival canceled, parade will still go on
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and Secretary Xavier Becerra showed their support.
ABC7's own Niku Kazori and Danny Romero also made an appearance, riding on a vehicle in the parade.
Not only is the parade a symbol of celebration, it's also a symbol of furthering education.
"What I like is that it shows also all the resources for the community that Long Beach has, that maybe, you know, people who just moved in are not aware of. And they get to make contacts and find out a lot of people and groups that can assist them," said Aurelle Garner with Parasol Patrol L.A.
While the festival was canceled due to permit issues, the city of Long Beach partnered with Visit Long Beach for a free event at Bixby Park to keep the Pride festivities going with live music, DJs and a drag show.
Permitting issues forced organizers to cancel the festival at the last minute, disrupting months of preparation. In response, vendors and festival-goers quickly organized alternative pop-up events at bars, local parks and businesses across the city.
"At the end of the day, this is pride. It's the community just being themselves, enjoying themselves, enjoying what's also ours, the parks," Salvador Flores said.
"Everyone's really pulling in trying," said David Keyes, a vendor. "Like everyone's been saying, Pride is not about a venue, it's a community, and everyone is stepping up to make the best of what we can for Pride this year."
Those impromptu gatherings allowed participants to continue celebrating despite the setback, with many determined not to let their time, effort and money go to waste.
"It's a testament to queer culture. We are resilient, and one thing about resilience in the queer world is you show up, and you show out. And we did just that," said vendor Chris Parker.
City officials said they are working with organizers to address questions surrounding refunds following the festival's cancellation.
