{"id":163647,"date":"2026-02-21T08:49:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163647\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:49:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:49:22","slug":"rainbow-lasers-light-up-skyline-for-winter-pride-st-pete-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163647\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainbow lasers light up skyline for Winter Pride St. Pete"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

A rainbow of laser beams lit up the St. Pete skyline on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

The organizers of St. Pete Winter Pride say the laser display responds to the removal of the city\u2019s rainbow crosswalk last summer.<\/p>\n

The FAA-approved installation is visible for miles and returns Friday and Saturday from dusk until 3 a.m.<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Seven beams of laser light lit up the night sky over St. Petersburg<\/a> on Thursday night. It\u2019s part of Winter Pride St. Pete, where organizers say this colorful installation is a response to the removal of the city\u2019s rainbow crosswalk.<\/p>\n

Cheers erupted as the lights illuminated the skyline on Central Avenue. People packed outside the Mari Jean Hotel, looking up as these colors stretched for miles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rob Hall, executive director of Winter Pride<\/a> St. Pete, described this powerful moment.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a remarkable moment, we have an opportunity to bring this rainbow to the skies of St. Pete,” he said. “It can be seen from over 60 miles away.”<\/p>\n

For Hall, this laser light display carries personal meaning. When he came out as an adult, he knew St. Pete was the place he wanted to be.<\/p>\n

“When I got to St. Pete, seeing that crosswalk, it was life-changing,” he said. “When it was removed, it had a significant impact on my heart.”<\/p>\n

The other side<\/p>\n

Hall says the rainbow display is a direct response to Florida<\/a>Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> and FDOT\u2019s decision to remove street murals and art.<\/p>\n

That statewide directive included painting over the Rainbow Progress Pride intersection mural at 25th Street and Central Avenue.<\/p>\n

Antonio Luis, who attended the event, says his community has felt those changes.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

“We spent this past year getting a lot of spaces erased in the LGBT<\/a> community,” he said. “We\u2019re looking at different ways for those spaces to remain.”<\/p>\n

Laser artist Yvette Mattern created the installation. She worked with certified technicians and received FAA clearance to project the lasers more than 50 blocks toward the beaches.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“I am so proud to be able to do this where that rainbow crosswalk was taken away,” Mattern said.<\/p>\n

As the bright beams shined over downtown St. Petersburg, Katie Dickieson felt inspired.<\/p>\n

“It symbolizes so much joy and being represented in this community,” she said.<\/p>\n

RELATED: St. Pete Winter Pride braces for record crowds<\/a><\/p>\n

Winter Pride St. Pete is in its second year and has expanded across more venues and neighborhoods since its inaugural celebration.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

The laser installation will be back on Friday and Saturday, beginning at dusk and continuing until 3 a.m.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information for this story came from statements from Winter Pride St. Pete, interviews with event attendees and reporting from previous coverage on FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief A rainbow of laser beams lit up the St. Pete skyline on Thursday night. The organizers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[78235,4382,75426,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-163647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-laser-installation","9":"tag-rainbow-crosswalk","10":"tag-rob-hall","11":"tag-st-pete","12":"tag-st-pete-headlines","13":"tag-st-pete-news","14":"tag-st-petersburg","15":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","16":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}