ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The streets were busy in downtown Orlando as thousands headed to Lake Eola Park to celebrate Come Out With Pride.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Come Out With Pride was celebrated in downtown Orlando Saturday
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Performances, a parade, and fireworks were scheduled at this year\u2019s event in Lake Eola Park
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Organizers are expecting to top last year’s crowd<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s events included a trans rally and march, drag and musical performances, and a parade through downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being able to express myself with my community because with this day and age, it feels like you have to hide and I\u2019d rather not do that, so getting to express myself in the broad daylight is really nice and refreshing,\u201d said attendee Bas Zammarrelli.<\/p>\n
Come Out With Pride is organized by executive director Tatiana Quiroga, who says she is expecting to top last year\u2019s attendance of 230,000 people since it is the largest single-day pride event in Orlando.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, that speaks volumes of who we are as a community because we know a lot of those people are obviously part of the LGBTQ community, but majority of those folks are also allies,\u201d said Quiroga. \u201cAnd for us, allies are totally essential to being able to continue to grow the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each year brings new and returning attendees to Orlando, such as Lewy Brown. Other cities, such as Tampa and Fort Myers, canceled their pride events.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely feel like it\u2019s good to see my community on a basis that I know is going to happen every year,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
The parade started at 4 p.m. on Orange Avenue and headed towards Lake Eola Park. A fireworks show was scheduled to finish off the night.<\/p>\n