Thousands gathered Sunday in Woodstock to celebrate PrideFest.

The festivities began with the Woodstock Pride parade at 11 a.m. Dozens of floats – including those put together by churches, local businesses and health organizations – participated.

[ See more photos from Woodstock PrideFest ]

Attendee Alex Linardos said of the churches represented that “it’s good to see” they’re open-minded. He said he came up from downtown Chicago for the day to attend the parade and PrideFest. He said it was his first time at Woodstock Pride and was glad the rain held off. He added he was happy to see a great turnout.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said.

Attendee Audrey Raden was holding a sign for “Free Mom Hugs.” Raden said she has been attending Pride events since she was in her 20s and living in Chicago. She would get choked up seeing PFLAG, a prominent LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Raden said many young people are rejected by their families and wants young people to know they are lovable and good.

Raden said she saw other people giving out Free Mom Hugs and she wanted to do it too. Around noon Sunday, she estimated she had given around 10 to 15 hugs. One was to someone marking the anniversary of their mother’s passing.

Tani Walker attended with her family.

“This town is so accepting of all” people, Walker said. She said Sunday was her first time coming to the parade because she has had to work in past years. She said she used to attend Pride events in Chicago and said she loved the Cantina 52 float with drag queens on it.

Attendee Meghan Early also said PrideFest was family-friendly. More giveaways were geared towards children, including things like bubbles and balloon animals. She said there were more vendors this year.

She also mentioned seeing Moxy Cillin, a frequent Woodstock PrideFest performer whose show Early described “fabulous, as always.”

She said it was her fourth year coming. She said she loved bringing her daughter to the festival and wanted her to be open to equality and being kind to others.

Returning to the parade this year was co-grand marshal Joe Weyland. He was a grand marshal last year but suffered a heart attack after the parade but before he gave his speech.

Weyland said Sunday he “did, in fact, die” and the heart attack nearly stopped him from giving the speech.

“HIV hasn’t taken me. Discrimination hasn’t taken me. Fear didn’t take me, and a heart attack didn’t take me either,” Weyland said.

Weyland said he was diagnosed as HIV-positive 35 years ago.

He said Melissa McMahon, one of the organizers of Woodstock Pride, asked if Weyland would be willing to speak about living with HIV. Weyland said he didn’t hesitate and McMahon, who is a City Council member, arranged for a part of the AIDS quilt to be on display at Unity Spiritual Center, where he is a parishioner.

“At that time, many of us weren’t planning for retirement. We were planning for funerals,” Weyland said.

He said his story began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when AIDS was devastating communities. He said he watched friends get sick, friends die, families reject people they claimed to love and fear become policy.

He said some people sound alarm bells when they see attacks on their own rights because they remember the silence and fear, and “we remember what happens when people decide that certain lives matter less than others.”

Weyland also talked about the current political climate and said he and his now-husband talked after the 2024 election about what happens if their rights disappear. The couple wed in January 2025, days before President Trump’s second inauguration.

“The right to marry the person you love should never be up for debate,” Weyland said. He said every person deserves the freedom to “live authentically and safely as themselves.”

No counter-protesters were spotted Sunday in Woodstock. McMahon told attendees to ignore any naysayers who may show up and said they were not worth attendees’ time.

Katherine Brooks served as the other grand marshal in the Woodstock Pride parade. She is a Woodstock resident who is an Emmy Award-winning TV director, producer and filmmaker, according to a news release from the Woodstock Pride organization.

“I’m so in love with Woodstock,” Brooks said, adding everyone is nice but the winters are really intense.

She grew up in rural Louisiana, where there was no representation there, she said. She moved to Woodstock from Los Angeles, and those places have no seasons, she said.

“We’re glad to be here,” Brooks said.