It’s Winter Pride Week in St. Pete
The one thing downtown business owner David Fischer hears every June, over and over again, during the St. Pete Pride Festival and parade: It’s so hot outside.
Fischer, whose gay-oriented businesses include the Wet Spot Pool Bar and Day Club, Cocktail, The Ball and the Mari Jean Hotel, has been a major sponsor of the annual St. Pete Pride Month activities for years. “We want to enhance St. Pete’s visibility within the LGBTQ+ community,” he says. “So we went to St. Pete Pride and said ‘We get feedback saying let’s do Pride in cooler months.’”
According to Fischer, the official Pride organization declined, insisting it didn’t have the financial resources, so last fall he and a group of friends began to brainstorm and assemble an alternative: Winter Pride. It’s not meant to be a replacement, or competition, but an addition.
“I believe we have a big enough population of community members, and people that visit here in the winter, that we can hold two Prides,” Fischer explains.
Events take place nightly this week, culminating in a Grand Central District street party Sunday (Feb. 23). There are 11 scheduled events, nine of them free. The City of St. Petersburg is a co-sponsor.
“Summer Pride is a great draw for people to the city in our slower months,” he adds. “But there’s a lot of gay people that come here in the winter months that would like to celebrate as well.”
Winter Pride opening event, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo by Gabe Alves.
Last night’s street party, Fischer says, broke all attendance records for a Pride opening event. “It’s clear that people, even in the current political environment, are in the mood to celebrate and be around people who are like them.”
Executive Director Rob Hall explains that the Winter Pride admin team took a few extra steps to ensure their inaugural festival had maximum appeal for its intended audience.
“We’ve gone to different parts of the community to say ‘Hey, you’re the experts in the trans community, help us plan an event for the trans community.’ Or ‘You’re the lesbian community – let’s plan, with your support and your help, something for the ladies.’ Same thing for the guys.
“These ambassadors have been the ones going out and talking to their peers, talking to their friends, ‘what do you want? What would you like to see? How can we support you?’ And then collectively we come together and talk through the ideas to make sure we can make those things happen in a very meaningful way.”
For a full schedule of this week’s events, visit this link.
Sunday’s street festival, 12-5 p.m., takes place on Central Avenue between 22nd and 25th Avenues. Find information about performers and amenities here.
Official St. Pete Pride Weekend events will take place June 27-29. Visit the website.
Photo by Gabe Alves.
