CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Pride may have wrapped, but there is still much to celebrate as this year's parade set a new record.
The Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade took over the Queen City this weekend, with about 260,000 people in Uptown for the event.
This year's parade set a record Sunday as the biggest parade in Charlotte Pride history with over 40 floats and roughly 10,000 participants.
In 2022, 275,000 people attended the events. It was estimated the event generated $8 million in revenue last year.
As the event continues to grow, those behind the festival said they are grateful to have a safe space to celebrate and support the LGBTQ-plus community.
"Pride really means visibility and celebratory togetherness… times have been really hard," said Liz Schob with the festival. "It is important to take intentional moments like this and really celebrate joy and the things we can really come together about and to also galvanize us because there is a lot of work to do.”
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