San Francisco will once again celebrate the LGBT community during a festive weekend jam-packed with events and an annual parade.
The two-day celebration will be highlighted by inspirational speakers and performers taking the stage at Civic Center Plaza on Saturday and Sunday as well as scores of people flooding the streets on Sunday for the 48th annual parade along Market Street from Beale Street to 8th Street.
This year's Pride theme is "Generations of Strength." It's meant to shine a light on older generations who started the movement for LGBT rights in the 60s and 70s, said Pride Executive Director George Ridgely.
"If you come to our celebration, it's overwhelmingly young people who are coming and it's a great opportunity for us to engage with those young people and it's an opportunity to keep the conversation going," Ridgely said.
Saturday's celebration and rally at Civic Center Plaza is slated to take place between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. The festivities will begin one hour earlier on Sunday but also last until 6 p.m.
Attendees do not not need to pay to enjoy the festivities, but they are encouraged to make $1 to $5 donations at event entrances.
Sunday's parade will kick off at 10:30 a.m. from the intersection of Market and Beale streets.
Ridgely says he expect around 50,000 people to be marching in the parade, and around a million people to attend the weekend event.
Attendees interested in catching an advantageous view of the parade can pay to sit in grandstands positioned along the route.
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To cap the weekend, popular Oakland singer Kehlani will take to the main stage at Civic Center Plaza at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
The San Francisco Police Department said they will be out in force, with some uniformed officers as well as plain-clothed officers.
"We are going to have boosted numbers on patrol as well as specialized units available for quick response," said Robert Rueca from SFPD. "We are taking measures to ensure the city is safe for an example, that the parade route is safe that city streets will be closed off to vehicular traffic from at least a block away so you would have to walk into that venue as well as the civic center plaza."
