2023 Indy Pride Parade and festival kicks off in downtown Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The 2023 Indy Pride Parade kicked off at 10 a.m. Saturday, and large crowds filled Massachusetts Avenue to celebrate.

This year, the celebrations are bigger than ever, with more than 180 groups walking in the parade, including family faces from WISH-TV.

Over 60,000 people attended last year’s parade and another 35,000 enjoyed the festival afterward, bringing in over 100,000 people to celebrate Pride in 2022.

News 8 spoke with Shelly Snider, the executive director of Indy Pride, who says there is a reason why Indy Pride is upping the number of celebrations this year.

“Just last night, I got some hate mail that said I need to stop going on TV and saying this is a celebration, and that we need to welcome people. That just says to me that we need (the celebrations) more than ever now,” Snider said.

Snider also says she wants everyone to feel safe while out celebrating on Saturday.

There will be a clear bag policy at the festival at Military Park, which runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. More than 300 vendors are participating in the festival, with 3 stages for entertainment, and a community area that is PG-rated and open to all ages.

Tickets for the festival are $10.