The world’s largest National Coming Out Day celebration was bigger than ever this year, as revelers filled every inch of Philadelphia’s Gayborhood.
Sunday’s OutFest drew a crowd of about 45,000 festivalgoers, up about 3,000 from last year and the highest attendance ever in the event’s 21 years.
Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, which organizes the festival, said the event has continued to grow each year and also benefited this year from the weather.
“I think people had cabin fever with all the rain we’ve gotten in the past several months and then it was such a beautiful day Sunday with temperatures in the 80s,” Price said. “Usually it doesn’t get packed until around 1 but by 12, we had a huge crowd already. People just wanted to get out there.”
Price said she received a wealth of emails this week from attendees praising the social aspect of the event.
“A lot of people have said, ‘I ran into this person I haven’t seen in 20 years’ or ‘this person moved away and came back to visit because they knew I’d be at OutFest.’ There was a real nice feeling of unity in our community and, overall, it was a beautiful day in the Gayborhood.”
Local entertainers graced the stage at 13th and Locust streets throughout the day, and organizers presented Jermaine Benton, Ronda Goldfein, Metropolitan Community Church and Giovanni’s Room with awards.
Gilbert Baker, the creator of the rainbow flag as an LGBT symbol, presented Giovanni’s Room owner Ed Hermance with his store’s award, named for Baker, shortly after the unveiling ceremony of the new historic marker outside of the store.
“[Baker] said on stage that he travels all over the country and named so many LGBT bookstores that have gone out of business and how important it is that we have Giovanni’s Room,” Price said. “So there was a lot of history there.”
Among the returning OutFest traditions were the antigay protestors from Repent America who were met this year by members of the Philadelphia Freedom Band, who played music in front of the demonstrators, some of whom were using bullhorns.
“The Philadelphia Freedom Band was really the hero of the day,” Price said. “They set up the band right in front of them and just kept playing to drown out their really ugly, ugly messages. And every time the protestors would move, they’d move right along with them. They were really brilliant.”
Price said there were no run-ins among protestors and festivalgoers.
There were, however, a handful of arrests, including one woman, who was arrested for driving under the influence after attempting to drive her car through the intersection of 13th and Spruce streets.
Two men were also arrested at 12th and Pine streets for disorderly conduct.
One of the men, who contends officers at the 6th District headquarters were unnecessarily rough when he was at the station, was transported via ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital after his release and was treated for a concussion and contusions.
Police spokesperson Lt. Ray Ever said there was also a robbery investigation at Walnut and Camac streets at 5:30 p.m., with no immediate arrest.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].