Come out St. Pete festival
Dan Matics reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Coming out has two different meanings for organizers getting ready for a week-long celebration that begins Sunday evening, on National Coming Out Day in the gay community.
“We’ve all lived in our home for seven months now and I think people are wanting to get out,” Chris Jones, co-chair of Come Out St. Pete.
This is the first major festival the city of St. Petersburg is allowing under their reopening plan.
“There are ways to do things safely,” said Brian Longstreth, co-chair.
This past week Mayor Rick Kriseman announced city buildings and recreation centers will open to the public. Also, large events can happen on city property and street, as long as the Centers for Disease Control rules are followed and each event has an action plan.
“If they have a website then they need to post that mitigation plan online. It’s really important to us that the public knows what’s going to happen at that event,” Kriseman told FOX 13.
Pinellas County has seen low COVID-19 infection numbers for the past two months and has stayed well below the 5% positivity rate threshold.
“We took a lot of precautions to make sure people had masks, sanitizer and people are properly spaced and do a nice event that still has some great meaning,” Longstreth said.
Other changes this year include a Come Out St. Pete “car cruise” instead of a parade.
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