ROUND ROCK, Texas — Round Rock held its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Festival on Saturday.
The inaugural Pride Festival was held at Centennial Plaza in the afternoon. Organizers said they weren't sure how the first Pride event would turn out but, in the end, hundreds of people filled the plaza.
The event featured opening remarks by KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski and an introduction of the Austin Gay Men's Corus, remarks from Mayor Craig Morgan and Round Rock Pride Founder Richard Parson, a "Drag Queen Story Time" and performance with Mini Kween Kee Kee and more.
Mayor Morgan issued a proclamation honoring the city's LGBTQ+ population, and organizers said they wanted to hold the event to bring the community together.
"I'm very humbled that I am the one that has to do this. But I am so proud that I have a community that came together because not only the LGBTQ community came together, the entire Round Rock community," Parson said.
Another founder of the event said they found the community's support overwhelming.
"The support was overwhelming. I really only thought we were going to have, like, five vendors here and we ended out with 42 and we had to turn a lot away because we don't have space. So, next year is going to be bigger and better," Ben Hillard said.
Round Rock was just one of several Central Texas cities hosting LGBTQ+ events for the first time ever this year. Leander, Pflugerville and Lockhart are also among the list.
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