PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Thousands of people gathered in downtown Providence Saturday for a weekend of PrideFest celebrations.
This year, the event is under the close watch of police office officers hoping to ease minds following a shots fired incident at PVDFest last weekend.
Betty Perez and her granddaughter Kadence were among those in attendance Saturday.
This is all she knows of me, so this is just another experience for her to be more open and enjoy people exactly for who they are,” Perez said.
She says she did give what happened last weekend some thought, but ultimately decided to attend Saturday’s celebration.
“Like last night I was like eh maybe we better not go but then I decided you know what, we’re gonna go we’e gonna have a good time,” Perez said.
Earlier in the week, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare wouldn’t give away specifics but said there would be a larger police presence.
“There will be more, but as far as how many more that’s our strategy. So come, you’ll be safe, you’ll be festive and we’ll do everything we can to make sure everyone is safe and celebrating,” Pare said.
