Inaugural Gulfcoast Pride Postponed Amidst Hurricane Recovery

​The highly anticipated Gulfcoast Pride, originally scheduled for October 19th in Downtown Sarasota, has been postponed as our community grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. This inaugural event, meant to unite the Sarasota and Manatee Pride celebrations, is now on hold as Sarasota and nearby areas focus on recovery.

Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 9th, striking Siesta Key as a powerful Category 3 storm, just weeks after Hurricane Helene brought destruction to northern Florida. The back-to-back storms left significant damage across the region, prompting Project Pride’s board to reevaluate their plans.
“The community needs to heal. It’s been a crazy two weeks,” says Project Pride President Jason Champion. “We decided to postpone Gulfcoast Pride in response to the recent hurricanes in our community. This lets us shift our efforts to support those in need.”

In these trying times, Project Pride’s decision reflects a prioritization of healing and unity. The nonprofit will continue to communicate with Gulfcoast Pride vendors and stakeholders in the coming days and is working closely with city officials to identify a new date for the celebration.
Though the event is postponed, the spirit of Pride remains strong. Our community’s resilience is more evident than ever as we come together to support each other in recovery efforts. Gulfcoast Pride will return, and when it does, it will be a powerful celebration of not only our diversity but our collective strength.