ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando’s 20th annual Come Out with Pride event and parade is underway and downtown Orlando businesses are gearing up for the festivities.

Saturday's all-day event will include street vendors and live entertainment at Lake Eola, a parade at 4 p.m., and will wrap up with a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m.

What You Need To Know

  • The Come Out with Pride event and parade is one of the biggest Pride celebrations in the Southeast and the largest single-day event in Central Florida

  • There will be more than 200 organizations and businesses marching in the parade

  • Guests will also have access to more than 250 vendors at the event’s Marketplace and SponsorWalk areas as well as live entertainment throughout Lake Eola

  • Organizers say the 2023 event brought more than 220,000 people to downtown Orlando

Multiple bars and restaurants in the Thornton Park area are already planning to have more staff working around the clock Saturday while others are preparing for a greater number of reservations.

Employees at Jack & Honey’s restaurant in Thornton Park are expecting this year’s Pride event and parade to be even busier than last year’s, which drew more than 220,000 guests to downtown Orlando.

“This year we’ve gotten a lot of calls — we’re expecting the bar to be full, the whole entire dining room to be full and we’re expecting a lot of people,” said Jack & Honey Assistant General Manager D’Vonte Chapman.

His restaurant is expecting a higher-than-average turnout, which Chapman said he believes is tied to the fact that they’ve been upping their social media presence lately.

Chapman also said focusing on safety remains a No. 1 priority during Pride, which is why he says it’s important that everyone be on the same page.

To do so, he made sure that the restaurant’s staff was properly briefed about street closures and alternative parking options.

Across the street, The Classic restaurant will be celebrating its second Pride since its opening.

Owner Brian Minkel said he won’t be making many changes to prepare for the annual event, aside from adding a couple more employees to the schedule.

Minkel said when it comes to Pride, there’s nothing to be concerned about since the energy in the crowd is always positive.

“Everybody gets, for a lack of a better word, to let their hair down a little bit," he said. "It’s nice to have people that — it’s a great day for that community because there’s like minded people that come out that get to be themselves."

Orlando officials are telling people to carpool or use ride sharing services instead of driving, because parking will be limited in the downtown area.

They also want to remind people that even though security will be present throughout the park and at the parade, that it’s important to remain vigilant for anything out of the ordinary.

People are being reminded to say something if they see something suspicious.