ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — News that singer Rita Ora pulled out of St. Pete Pride is not putting a damper on the festivities.
The organizers said Ora canceled all upcoming tour dates, but they're already getting close to naming her replacement. St. Pete Pride Executive Director Luke Blankenship said they have a couple of names in the running and will be making an announcement in the coming days.
Regardless of who headlines this event, the people make it what it is. St. Pete Pride is the biggest pride event in Florida, with 250,000 people expected to attend.
The celebration officially kicks off on June 21 and lasts through June 23. The parade on June 22 tends to have the biggest turnout with 5,000 people celebrating along St. Pete's Bayshore Boulevard.
This year is especially meaningful. It's the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
In 1969, New York police officers raided The Stonewall Inn, a popular LGBT hangout. The raid caused a riot resulting in a fight between police and protesters outside the bar. A year later, LGBT New Yorkers gathered to commemorate the rebellion with a March. It inspired others around the country.
"To be here, fifty years from that point and to see the growth and to be able to celebrate that is just an amazing accomplishment," Blankenship said.
Blankenship and his team are putting the finishing touches on St. Pete Pride 2019, the biggest pride event in Florida. They've come a long way since their inaugural year in 2003, but the meaning is still the same.
Stanley Solomons says St. Pete has transformed in the last several decades, and the city's support of Pride is inspiring.
"It's just so overwhelming. I still have trouble talking about it. It was just, I don't know how to really say it, it felt so good. It was just so enriching and enlivening and so good just to see all those people there. Here we are, we're living our lives. This is who we are, and this is who we're going to be," Solomons said as he choked back tears.
As in years past, St. Pete police will have stepped up security and patrols in and around the downtown area during the three-day festival.
A spokesperson with St. Petersburg Police said officers have a detailed security plan including:
- A command center for Pride at the new headquarters
- Uniformed officers, as well as officers in plainclothes
- Federal and state partners for intelligence prior to and during the event
- Limited access from the side streets (barricades and city garbage trucks to prevent access to the parade route)
- Skytower (a video observation platform)
Police are reminding everyone to be their eyes and ears. And, if you “see something, say something" such as suspicious packages or suspicious actions.
Blankenship echoed the security preparations for his event calling it "one of the safest places in Tampa Bay." All floats and vehicles in the staging area are swept for bombs.
What other people are reading right now:
- More reports of sickness and death at resorts in the Dominican Republic
- Helicopter crashes into Manhattan building, officials say
- Tampa will have a 2.5-mile waterfront fireworks display for Independence Day
- Jupiter will be so close in June you can use binoculars to see its moons
- Mother Nature gave this mom-to-be the most dramatic photo backdrop
►Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.