Santa Cruz holds annual pride parade and festival

Hundreds of people attended the 44th annual Santa Cruz Pride Parade and Festival on Sunday.

The event is put on by supporters of the LGBTQ community, and included floats, costumes and a marching band.

Santa Cruz police made up some of the 50 groups heading down Pacific Avenue toward the ocean. The parade ended near Cedar and Lincoln where the party continued.

“It’s nice to express who we become, whether we were born with it or we’ve evolved into being it over time,” said Nick Clavie, who attended the festival. “It’s nice to spread awareness that there is diversity in the world.”

Malia Rose, who identifies as queer, says events like these will help bring change.

“I think it’s important to have events like these because so many people have been raised or brought up or conditioned to believe that stuff like this isn’t important or it shouldn’t be out in the public, but it needs to be,” she said.

Organizers say this is the largest LGBTQ pride parade on the Central Coast. UC Santa Cruz also sponsored the event.