Pride parade, festival return to Hilo

Hundreds of people across the island came together Saturday in Hilo to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

For the first time in two years, Hawaii Island LGBTQ+ Pride hosted a parade and festival in downtown Hilo.

The theme, ‘10 Years OUT: Past-Present-Proud’ highlights the shared experience of being LGBTQ+ as Hawaii Island celebrates Pride for the tenth year in a row.

Last year marked the first time the Hawaii County Council proclaimed June to be LGBTQ+ Pride month. One result of this proclamation was the display of 10 different LGBTQ+ flags in the atrium of the County Government Center.

This year, the PRIZMA Hawaii LGBTQ+ Center was created to help folks find safe spaces to be out in their communities.

“We’re so glad to be at Pride this year to let people know that we are here and want to help,” Dawn Webber said. “We have town halls across the island to find out what the community needs and to help bring people together.”

After two years of socially-distanced Pride, many people were happy to be able to be together to eat, dance, talk and celebrate at the Mo‘oheau Bandstand.

“This turn out is amazing and it feels so good to be back to some normalcy,” said Pride boardmember Cherri Schrick. “I was busy putting a parade together, but it seems like everyone has had a good time together, which is our goal.”