Northern Nevada Pride, the area's LGBTQ+ celebration, is back in Reno this weekend. Now in it's tenth year, it's come a long way over the last decade.
"Ten years ago, we were just a group of friends that wanted to do something cool," said YeVonne Allen, marketing director for the event. "We met at the Pub N' Sub, had pizza and beer, and we're like let's just do something neat for our community. And now it's evolved. There's a dozen of us high-level volunteers that put this on, there's 200-300 volunteers that come out day-of, we could have never imagined it would be like this."
More than 10,000 people are expected at this year's event. The free parade starts at 10 a.m. down Virginia Street, followed by the all-day festival at Wingfield Park.
"I feel so very honored that our local community, Reno, Sparks, the Washoe county area has been so welcoming," Allen said. "It really rings true that Nevada is the greatest state in the country; we all come together, we're all one."
There are three music stages this year, and all the proceeds benefit the nonprofit, Our Center.
"Our Center is the local nonprofit right off of Wells Avenue that has an actual physical LGBTQ community center, so any money that comes in goes directly to the center," Allen said. "Our Center raised money for a decade before it every got a physical location, so to have a place where youth, where seniors, where our friends that identify as transgender can go and get resources and have community, that's what this is really all about."
This is a festival where everyone is welcome.
"You don't have to be a member of the LGBTQ community, you just need to be an ally," Allen said. "You need to not be a jerk, basically. Come on, bring the kids, folks under 18 are free. It's a great time had by all."
The event, formerly held in July and often in triple-digit temperatures, will now be a September tradition to hopefully take advantage of slightly cooler weather.
More information: https://northernnevadapride.org/
