The parade that brought some 15,000 people to NoHo in 2023 will be back again on Saturday morning as the second iteration of Hampshire Pride kicks off.
Pride parades in early May are nothing new to Northampton – with so many college students out of the area by June, aka Pride Month, local organizers hold the event a few weeks early.
Pride events in the city can be traced back to at least 1982, when the first liberation Pride march was held, calling attention to the harassment and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community.
Over time, it morphed into more of a celebration, eventually helmed by the group NoHo Pride, bringing some 30,000 people to the area at one point.
In the wake of COVID-19, the in-person parades ceased, only for new organizers, Hampshire Pride, to emerge and take the reins in 2023.
“Last year went exceptionally well,” said Pride Director Clay Pearson. “I think the quote that I gave out to a newspaper was ‘The worst thing that happened was I forgot to give the mayor flowers on stage.’”
Pearson says last year’s event was the product of about nine weeks or less of planning, but ended up bringing thousands of people to the city after several years off.
“This year, we now have experience and we also planned hard, but we also doubled the size of everything, basically,” the director said. “So, we know that we can cover this, we have multiple levels of security, making sure that everybody's safe and secure, but it's really about making sure that the community gets to celebrate in a safe and secure method.”
“Yeah, we got 22 floats, 1,800 marchers, lineup starting at 8 a.m. - we're bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow,” said Alden Peotter, the parade coordinator.
He tells WAMC that though getting groups of marchers into place is its own chaos, the display is ultimately awesome.
“This is an opportunity for organizations and businesses to showcase themselves for the queer community,” he said. “It's something I think so many people are excited to be involved with - a lot of our groups, you wouldn't even expect to be in a Pride parade, but they're just so happy, they want to be present, they want to show up.”
Also, happy to see the foot traffic and the pride on display – local shops, especially those at Thornes Marketplace, only a few hundred feet away from where the parade ends.
Jody Doele is one of the owner operators of the establishment.
“It's a very exciting time for us - the parade has been going on for over 40 years - I know, in the beginning, it was a form of protest, but lately, it's been a very joyous occasion and - the parade didn't happen during COVID and then it started back up last year, which we're very grateful for,” Doele said. “And we're grateful for the energy these folks bring to town, and the wallets they bring, and all the joy, because it really is a great time.”
On top of taking part in the parade, Thornes is also acting as a staging ground for some of the activities, including hosting some of the 40 drag queens expected to attend.
The itinerary goes beyond the parade, as well - a massive bar crawl, a festival behind Thornes, and a drag revue are just some of the events planned.
The parade kicks off at Sheldon field around 11 a.m., and will head down Route 9 before heading down Crafts Avenue and conclude.
