Pride Houston 2023 will have only a parade, no festival
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Houston's 45th annual Pride Parade is this weekend, but this year's festivities won't include the usual daytime festival.
Catch up quick: Pride Houston 365, which hosts the celebrations, announced earlier this year that due to costs and heat safety concerns, it would host only a parade this year.
- Last year, the first time the event was held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parade and festival cost more than $670,000, with security, insurance and marketing costs tripling from 2019.
- About 850,000 people attended the 2022 festivities, which started in the early afternoon, when the temperature was in the high 90s. Organizers had to open a library so people could get out of the heat, and all four Metro cooling buses were filled within two hours of the festival.
Of note: Organizers are still preparing for a large turnout for the parade on Saturday evening.
- "There's still going to be a ton of razzle-dazzle. I'm hoping that everybody turns out just the same," Kendra Walker, president of Pride Houston 365, tells Axios.
Between the lines: This year's parade will cost about $275,000 — largely funded by sponsors and fundraising events. But Walker notes that "every time a sponsor gets targeted for supporting the community, then that has an effect on us because they pull their dollars or they pull their marketing."
- According to Walker, some sponsors requested to decrease their visible support for Pride, asking to remove their logos from marketing.
What they're saying: "So many bills have been making their way through Congress targeting our community. It's just very important, very personal that you show up and show out and show your pride and show that you're not afraid to take a stand, and going back — it's not an option," Walker says.
Details: The 45th annual Houston Pride Parade starts at 7pm Saturday at Houston City Hall and will be led by seven grand marshals.
- There will be about 300 contingents, with lit-up floats, cars and buses, according to Walker.
- While the parade is in the evening, when it will likely be cooler, there will be cooling buses and free water. On Saturday, the high is expected to be 98.
- The parade is free and open to all ages.
What's next: Pride Houston 365 is already planning next year's parade and festival.
- The 2024 festival will take place the night before the parade, after Harris County Precinct 4's Families With Pride event.
Go deeper: While Pride Houston 365 isn't hosting an official festival, there will be an abundance of other Pride events this weekend.