SC Pride Celebrates 28th Year With Two-Day Festival

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)- South Carolina Pride says they are preparing for an event Columbia has never seen before.

President Jeff March said getting ready to host a parade downtown at night was not easy but he hopes it will be the best pride parade yet. “Tonight is our first-ever night parade in the City of Columbia,” said March. “This is a big change for us. It came about for logistics for the city, it should be smoother in the end for us to com straight down Main Street this year, it’s the first ever night parade in the city, we’re excited about that and it’s going to be our expansion for the first time into a two-day festival. So we’re looking forward to it, it’s going to be terribly exciting.”

Though the parade will feature celebrities like rapper Lil Kim and performers from Ru Paul’s Drag Race, March said the parade is all about celebrating inclusion.

“That’s why we do this,” began March. “We do it to bring everybody together and it is great to see everybody happy, it is great to see people from rural areas come up and experience this for their first time, the young folks coming out and feeling acceptance when they don’t get it at home, at church or at school. This is a great outlet and for many people tonight and tomorrow, this will be their first time.”

As the Club Pulse shooting looming in distant memory, South Carolina Pride encourages people not to let fear stop them from having a good time this weekend. “There are hundreds of pride festivals have gone without a hitch, ours has always gone without a hitch, we are not expecting anything but of course, we are always prepared,” said March.

Marsh said last year, more than 50,000 people came out to celebrate and he hopes even more join the celebration this year.