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Along with rainbow are pots of gold

The St. Pete Pride festival lured 35,000 people in one day - people spending money on food, drink, maybe lodging and so on.

By SHARON L. BOND
Published June 29, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Take just the one day, Saturday, says Gregg Stemm when figuring the economic impact of the third St. Pete Pride celebration here that drew 35,000 people.

"Say if each attendee spent an average of $20 per person on gas, food, beverages and souvenirs. That would be a direct economic impact of $700,000" in a day, he said.

Stemm is co-chairman of St. Pete Pride Inc., which puts on the weeklong celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The festival began June 17 and ended last Saturday with a promenade, street market, speeches and singing.

Stemm's group does not yet have final figures to judge the complete impact of the festival. But other numbers were decisively higher this year than last year: 35,000 attendees compared with 20,000, 57 sponsors over 35, and 200 vendors for the street market instead of 136.

"After the festival was over, people wanted to see the city," said Chris Lovett, who leads the festival with Stemm.

"There were folks from Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville who had never been to the Dali Museum," Lovett said, giving an example of the spillover.

Joe Wadsworth is a clerk at Impulse Gifts and worked at the store's street market booth. At times, he said, lines were 10 deep to buy St. Pete Pride paraphernalia.

"This year, it was 25 percent to 30 percent better (in sales). It was fantastic. I wish we had it twice a year."

St. Petersburg was not the only beneficiary. Gulfport had several days of St. Pete Pride activities, and merchants there saw larger crowds.

Stemm said he went to the merchants association and asked if the group would be a sponsor. It suggested holding events in Gulfport. On June 17, St. Pete Pride sponsored the Pink Tie Prom at the Gulfport Casino. About 8,000 attended the dance and events held in Gulfport that weekend, Stemm said.

Hotels in St. Petersburg, Gulfport and the beaches accommodated people who made the fest a destination. Brian Longstreth, another of the organizers, estimated that 500 hotel rooms could have been rented.

"Just the celebration itself brings a fair degree of tourism in," said Jay Lasita, vice chairman of the St. Petersburg City Council. His district includes parts of the Grand Central area where the street festival was held.

Festival attendance probably was boosted significantly by the controversy in Hillsborough County, Lasita said. This month the Hillsborough County Commission adopted a policy keeping county government from recognizing gay pride events.

"More people were angry about what was going on in Tampa and wanted to support St. Petersburg," Wadsworth agreed.

"The gay community around this area has become accustomed to us being the Pride celebration for the area," Stemm said.

This year, they "are showing up in extra numbers for any event that supports gay pride. Everybody sort of wants to make a statement."

Preparing for the festival also pumped money into the local economy. Stemm said St. Pete Pride Inc. spent from $50,000 to $60,000 for such things as printing the programs, renting tables and chairs for the street market, renting the Gulfport Casino, securing other venues and renting two shuttle buses.

[Last modified June 29, 2005, 04:55:14]