FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Thousands of people gathered to celebrate Pride at the annual Fernandina Beach Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday morning.
It comes at a time when some say diversity isn’t being celebrated.
Recommended Videos
Organizers said everyone is welcome, and this year’s event will be bigger than last year’s.
RELATED | News4JAX’s Jana Angel and Katie Garner to emcee Fernandina Beach Pride
Jordan Morris, the president of Fernandina Beach Pride, gave News4JAX a walk-through of what the layout for the festival will look like.
“Pride is a lot of things to a lot of different people. But for us, it’s giving people a safe space to learn about and love themselves which will then allow them to love other people,” Morris said.
Last year, there were 70 vendors, and this year they’re expecting to have more than 100.
LIST | Here are the Pride events happening in Northeast Florida in June 2024
Organizers said they expect around 3,000 people.
“It’s really, really exciting. It’s a little bit frightening. We want to make sure we can accommodate everything,” Morris said.
Last year, there was some controversy surrounding this festival.
The group Citizens Defending Freedom-Nassau was opposed to its location.
“I do object when it impacts other elements of society,” a man with the group said last year.
MORE | Group asks Fernandina Beach commissioners to move pride festival, parade away from city park
The group said they didn’t want it there because they believed it violated the city and state laws designed to protect children. Morris said they have not been in contact or heard anything from that group in 2024.
With this being a public event, safety will also be key. Security along with police will be out there.
The Police Chief for the Fernandina Beach Police Department, Jeffrey Tambasco, said the protection of this event and others like it starts weeks in advance.
“We started our safety protocol two months ago. In the form of our intelligence section keeping an eye on social media and various blogs and we met routinely with the promoters of the pride festival to enhance our safety protocol,” Tambasco said. “Safety protocols to make sure everyone enjoys themselves.”
Morris also said with temperatures expected to reach the high 90s, they will help keep people cool with water and cooling stations.
“It’s just a great day to bring the family,” Morris said.