Phil Ehr & Blaire Castro
Teniade’ Broughton, Drew Buchanan & Jonathan Kusnerek
Melanie Dillon & Elizabeth Schrey
Mike Potters & Catherine Barnett
Josh Gilmore & Louis Cooper
T
he annual Pensacola PRIDE Festival in the Park kicked off on June 16 with
entertainment, vendors, food and more. Gay Grassroots of Northwest Florida
presented the yearly festival and encouraged attendees to visit and communicate
with neighbors at this colorful community event. “Over the years there’s been a
lot of change in the way Northwest Florida has interacted with the LGBTQ community,” says
Louis Cooper, president of Gay Grassroots, the organizer of the annual Pensacola PRIDE
cultural awareness events. “The theme is ‘Forty Years Beyond the Rainbow’,” Cooper says.
“The rainbow fl ag was fi rst designed and showcased as a positive symbol of the LGBTQ
community in 1978 and has since come to represent our community around the globe. We are
using this year to look at how LGBTQ culture has changed in our area in that time frame and to
celebrate everything our beautiful fl ag represents.”
Highlights included the festival headliner Wayward Sisters, standup comic Andrew Ferrara,
and the Red Carpet Spectacular, the traditional end-of-day drag show. About 60 vendors
ranging from artists to businesses and non-profi ts were represented at the festival. For the third
year in a row, the Lewis Bear Co. was the festival’s beverage sponsor.
Pensacola Pride:
Festival in the Park
Jess Gehres, Elle Banton & Dara Flanagan
VIP Pensacola at Seville Square Park
photos & story by
Kristina Wright
Craig Weber & Forest Dixon
68 | VIPPensacola.com
68-69 Event Festival in the Park .indd 1
7/25/18 2:30 PM