Early Bird’s Special for Parade & Festival Booths

    TAMPA PRIDE 2016 is only 90 days away. Wow how the year has flown by. There is a Special Early Pricing for the upcoming Parade and Festival Vendors online www.TampaPride.org for the March 26, 2016 Festival event. Last year both the Festival Vendor booths and the Parade were Sold Out 4-6 weeks in advance of the Festival. We have added more Parade entry spots, Vendor Booths and a larger area to display this next spring.

     The new Festival location has changed and will be around Centennial Park in Ybor City and in the 2 City of Tampa Parking Lots, #5 & #6. TAMPA PRIDE 2016 will be partnering with Ybor City Saturday Market that is  held every Saturday inside Centennial Park.

    The TAMPA PRIDE 2016 Committees excitement grows as a bigger planned overall event.

    In January  the announcement of the TAMPA PRIDE 2016 GRAND MARSHAL’S and the first TAMPA PRIDE Recognized LGBTA Community Leaders.

    Another first for TAMPA PRIDE will be the MISS TAMPA PRIDE 2016 Pageant  to be held Sunday, January 17th at Honey Pot in GaYBOR District in historic Ybor City.

    Registration for the highly visible and recognized pageant are at TAMPA PRIDE online site or you can contact Kurt @ Hamburger Mary’s Ybor City. A great Prize package for the top 3 winners in the competition including many guaranteed show engagements, Crown, Sash, $500+ prize to winner.

    This years reigning MISS TAMPA PRIDE 2015 is Tampa Bay’s funny Diva, Miss Esme Russell.

    A new popular drinking and eating establishment “Punky’s” has now opened on 31st Street and Central Avenue.in St. Petersburg. With the demise of and now closed popular  Georgie’s Alibi, Punky’s looks like a great new neighborhood spot to go out to see friends and have some great grub too!. Outdoors or inside seating.

    Don’t be afraid when you see (Miss) Punky around the Restaurant!

    Many draft beers to choose from that goes well with the burgers, salads, steaks and appetizers. New additions coming are weekend brunches Saturday & Sundays. They open weekly at 11am and close at midnight BUT weekends are open until the 3 am bell rings!

    We congratulate our old friends, Punky’s co-owners, Brian Longstreth, Lynn Deibert and John Burt in opening another GLBT business in the famed Grand Central District.

    The Snow fell and the people came! A great warm night to behold with couples, family members, and 7th Ave busineses witnessing high school bands performing from around Tampa Bay in the YCDC Holiday Snow on 7th Parade.

    Welcoming performing talents for the evening included  Miss Amy DeMillo, Natasha Richards and talented singing star, Christopher Thomas.

    Surprising events are always a fun surprise for any reporter or journalist. Sunday while I was noticing all the new changes occurring in Tampa Heights North Franklin Street area, I noticed a large crowd where the weekly area church organizers give out food to the areas homeless and unfortunate.

    There had to be 100’s of motorcycles and double number of people so I parked to see what was going on in the Tampa’s City’s  Phil Bourquardez Park on North Tampa Street next to Stetson Law School. I could see food being handed out. The colorful Hispanic group of volunteering cyclists all dressed in the same matching jackets were there to donate food, clothing, shoes, meals, drinks and had pick ups with generators running to provide electricity to a half dozen member barbers who were cutting and trimming homeless peoples hair for free. I talked with a couple of group leaders and was impressed of their diligent efforts to help their fellow human beings with Holiday Pride.

    Group members attending as far away as Orlando and Lakeland rode their motorcycles over to Tampa to help in this charity Holiday Tradition Sunday they told me. Soon area TV stations came upon the same story as I was witnessing to also do a positive story. A fraternity from University of Tampa brought 4 big boxed of donated food to help add in the heart felt event.

    With the large motorcycle group of all aged family members busily kindly working they had delivered food and clothing to a few hundred area homeless individuals this past Sunday saying simply , “We care brother!”