The 16th Annual Lexington Pride Fest was held on the previous Saturday at Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza and, despite high heat, attracted a record amount of people. Planners believe that more than 3,5000 individuals took part in the events held in support of gay and lesbian perspectives and acknowledgment of the society, and it is getting bigger year by year.

As a mainstay of the Lexington GLBT community and its supporters, the fest included music, dance, food, merchandise and information tables, and child care. The theme of the year, “Resilience in Rainbow” was expected to raise awareness of the current persisting difficulties faced by the members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The chairperson of the Lexington Pride Festival committee, Carmen Wampler-Collins, said she was happy with the attendance. “We are so excited again this year with the turn out,” she said. And yet they stood and danced, as if the sun was setting and not suddenly rising higher and higher, celebrating love, diversity, and inclusion. It quickly becomes apparent this is something people value and it’s one more proof that our community is strong and alive.

It began with the traditional parade on the spectacular Main Street with more than 100 floats and marching groups, sponsored by businesses, non-profit organizations and local gay groups. The Grand Marshal title was awarded to Dr. Emily Bates, raised gay rights activist and the creator to the first Support group for LGBTQ+ youth in Lexington.

All through the day, audience had a live performances by local and national artists on two different stages. Some of headliner performances were from Grammy nomination Mary Lambert singer-song writer and Shea Couleé, drag queen star from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

A welcome speech was given by the Mayor of the city Linda Gorton, who was present at the festival and she lauded the festivals effects on the city. “The Pride Festival is a joyous event that shows Lexington’s people and their ability to accept and rejoice other people’s differences,” Mayor Gorton said. ‘It’s this kind of activity that make our city among the most wonderful and friendly place to live in’.

Health and wellness was also clearly present this year in a dedicated space that provided and explored information about free HIV testing, mental health and LGBTQ+ health. These service were offered by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department in collaboration with health clinics to highlight the need of equal health care among the credit members of the society.

Education was also presented as the main concern of Pridefest’s programme, including several workshop and panel discussions, gay, lesbian and transgender history, TransMI, intersectionality. Many session participants came and the discussions made during these sessions were very active even as people held such sessions in air-conditioned marquee tents to escape the heat.

The festival’s success is taking place at a time when the issues of LQBTQ+rights transformed into the top National and Local political agendas. In this connection, Chris Hartman of the Fairness Campaign, which is an organisation working for the LGBTQ+ rights in the state of Kentucky said, about the festival. ‘’As we witness more pushes against LGBTQ+ rights across the country, exposure like Lexington Pride is needed now more than ever.’’ ‘They give visibility, create community and make us reflect on the change that has occurred and on what still needs to be done.’

This year’s record festival also brought tremendous revenue to downtown Lexington to add on the impact it made on the event. Small traders and especially hotels and restaurants in the area noted an increase in customer traffic throughout the weekend. The Director for the Lexington Convention and Visitor Bureau approximated that the above event earned the city in excess of $2m.

While the event was a success, that was not without problems because of the heat; it rose to the high 90s. Employees of the festival addressed the problem together with the staff of the emergency services, installing new cooling stations and sharing free water with the spectators throughout the festival. The Lexington Fire Department said that they attended to a few people with heat issues, but no one was seriously affected.

In the future about the festival in particular Wampler Collins did not show much concern on the future growth of the event. As it is, she said, each year the parade attracts more people, who are eager to celebrate Pride in Lexington. “It is a nice nudging area symbolizing our city’s acceptance of gay people and people of equal rights.”

After the successful event of this year’s Lexington Pride Festival, one cannot fail to notice that the second largest city of Kentucky has embraced the changes and is Colorful Celebrations with Pride accepting the existence of queer individuals. The event is growing and it is giving an opportunity to embrace the pride of the LGBTQ+ community as well as a sign of liberalism in Lexington.

Thus, as the festival was wrapped up with a firework show, people and unofficial leaders wished that people of the society would stay tolerant and open for everyone until the last rainbow[flag] was folded.