Pittsburgh Pride weekend sets attendance record

Pride weekend in Pittsburgh set a new attendance record — over 260,000 people, officials said.

The parade itself saw over 103,000 of those attendees, said Jim Sheppard, co-chair of the Pittsburgh Pride Parade and co-creator of QBurgh, Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ news source.

“We worked with a crowd control and security consulting firm to use drone footage, street level video and pictures to analyze and estimate the size of the crowd on Saturday,” Sheppard said.

The inaugural event in 2021 saw around 10,000 people, 2022 saw around 50,000 and 2023 drew over 200,000, according to Dena Stanley, lead organizer of Pittsburgh Pride.

She said this year’s event was historic — not only because of the attendance record but because first lady Jill Biden made an appearance.

“For a long time, the diversity in our city wasn’t there when it came to Pride, and now it is,” said Stanley, who is also the co-founder of Pittsburgh Pride Group. “As a Black trans woman, I understand more than most people do.”

She’s been listening to what people want to see at Pride and adding those various aspects to the event each year.

“I want to make this the most diverse — the most inclusive — Pride that people come to,” Stanley said.

Stanley said she was in contact with the White House about getting Vice President Kamala Harris to attend this year’s Pride in the city, but she was unavailable.

“I was fighting hard to get the vice president here, but when they said that we could bring Jill Biden … that was like phenomenal,” she said. “To just have a White House official … here in our city, no one would’ve ever thought that that was something that could’ve been possible.”

By bringing a first family member to Pittsburgh Pride, Stanley said it showed that there are queer allies in Pennsylvania fighting for LGBTQ rights.

“It’s always been a fight for us to be seen — be heard,” she said of the queer community. “Visibility is very important.”

This year, Pittsburgh Pride coincided with numerous other city events, including the Kenny Chesney concert at Acrisure Stadium and the Three Rivers Arts Fest at the Allegheny Riverfront.

Though VisitPittsburgh doesn’t have specific numbers or data representing the economic impact of the trifecta of events, Jerad Bachar, president and CEO, said this past weekend is evidence that summer is officially underway in the city.

“We’re in for an exciting lineup of events throughout the city over the next few weeks,” Bachar said. “Our summer events and festivals drive visitation, economic impact and awareness of Pittsburgh as must-visit travel destination.”