Sean Lundsford was pleasantly surprised at what he stumbled upon at J.B. Hamil Park on Oct. 22. The large tents, the numerous vendors and the friendly atmosphere was exactly what he was hoping to find when he moved to Sarasota in March.
“I had no idea Sarasota Pride existed before today,” the 25-year-old student said. “I really only go out in St. Petersburg and Tampa because I didn't know there was a gay community here. I'm thrilled. This is exciting.”
For the second year in a row, Sarasota Pride held its annual event outdoors at the park off of Main Street in downtown. With a few tweaks and changes from its inaugural event last year, organizer Cindy Barnes said attendance was up.
“We're breaking records already,” Barnes said about halfway through the festival. “We're counting numbers throughout the day and I'm happy with what we're seeing so far.”
Barnes said that an estimated 3,000-3,500 people attended this year's celebration, up from approximately 2,500 in 2010. More food and alcohol was also sold this year thanks to the increased crowds and vendors reported record sales.
“We had people out the wazoo,” Barnes said. “We had so many people who just stumbled on us that were walking along the Bay front. They came over, had a beer and just enjoyed the party.”
The growth in the festival is due to the City of Sarasota's cooperation, the community as a whole and City Mayor Suzanne Atwell, who not only welcomed festival attendees, but volunteered for the dunking booth to raise money for the Trevor Project.
“There is just not a better advocate for the LGBT community,” Barnes said, when asked about Atwell's participation. “I spoke to her at the Harvey Milk Festival in the spring to ask her to read the proclamation and she agreed to it and also asked if she could participate in the dunking booth. She never flinched even though it was cooler weather.”
More than $300 was raised for the Trevor Project, which is an anti-bullying campaign. Others who volunteered for the dunking booth included Barnes, ProSuzy's Suzanne Noe and Watermark editor Steve Blanchard.
Several changes were incorporated into this year's Sarasota Pride Festival, most noticeable was that entertainment and vendors were on the same side of Main Street. All the vendors were under tents this year as well, which kept them cool and helped convince festival revelers to stay longer.
“People seemed to be beside themselves with the changes,” Barnes said. “It was just too spread out last year. I didn't know I had all of the land in the park and it was great to keep everyone together.”
The large tents housing the vendors were within earshot of the main stage, which had bands performing on it until 6 p.m.
“People didn't want to leave,” Barnes laughed. “I had to chase them out after 6 p.m. so we could close down.”
Police reported no incidents during the 2011 festival and one officer even commented to Barnes that the crowd was exceptionally well-behaved, especially considering that alcohol sales were up.
“I told him, they call us gay for a reason,” Barnes laughed. “We're always happy.”
