Show Some Pride!: PVD is preparing for its annual Pride celebration and needs your help!

The 44th annual Rhode Island PrideFest is less than four months away and Providence has already begun preparing for another unforgettable LGBTQ+ celebration this summer. New England’s largest PrideFest and only Illuminated Night Parade has received international recognition over recent years, and people are beginning to travel from distances to be a part of PVD’s epic celebration of life. The illuminated night parade has gained so much attention that National Geographic recently declared it one of the seven largest Pride parades in the world.

Last year more than 100,000 people filled the streets of downtown Providence with a vibrant array of rainbow colors and expressed an extraordinary amount of love and pride for their LGBTQ+ community. Joe Lazzerini, president of RI Pride, said RI Pride is making preparations for an even greater PrideFest attendance this summer than the city has seen before. He also stated that because the number of attendees continues to increase, the demand for volunteers has grown exponentially as well. There are many behind-the-scenes tasks involved in the setup and overall operation of the Illuminated Night Parade. Consequently, RI Pride needs to fill more than 300 volunteer positions to ensure that the event runs properly.    

In addition to volunteering for this year’s night parade, fundraising events are another fun way to support RI Pride. On Sunday, April 7, RI Pride will hold the RI Pride Pageant at the Colosseum from 6-9pm. Tickets will be available online soon for this event.

For more information about upcoming RI Pride events and to learn how to sign up to volunteer for RI Pride, go to prideri.org. Let’s make this year’s LGBTQ+ celebration louder and prouder than ever before!