WACO, TX — Nearly two years after the last Out on the Brazos celebration, Waco Pride Network officially hosted a planning meeting on Tuesday night for its comeback.
In the last 21 months, a lot has changed, including the Pride Network board. This is the first time Sydney Cox is chairing the event and in many ways, she's starting from the very beginning.
"It is going into files and looking at documents that have been created in the past and rummaging through them and seeing, this is how it was done so ... this is what I have," Cox said.
At Tuesday's first planning meeting for Out on the Brazos, she didn't know how many volunteers to expect. But the room was full and even running out of chairs.
Cox credits it to need for LGBTQ+ people to find community again after the pandemic.
"We've had several people come up to us and say, we miss our community. We don't know how to find one another. We don't know how to get together," she said. "So knowing that that need and desire is out there, and just basically being like, oh we're here, has been really neat."
One of the people ready to see the Waco LGBTQ+ community come together is 18-year-old Ariana Lopez, a board member of the Waco Youth Pride Alliance.
"It makes me so happy," Lopez said. "I am counting down the days till October."
For Lopez, Tuesday's meeting was a family affair. Her parents and her aunt attended with her.
"I am so blessed that I have such an accepting family that one, not only accepts me, but also goes out of their way to volunteer and help," she said.
With just over eleven weeks to get performers, vendors and security lined up, Cox is feeling the pressure. She's also ready, however, to see it all come together.
"I'm looking forward to the community and the joy that will be felt by everybody who's there, because every time I've been, it's just a happy time," Cox said.
This year's "Out on the Brazos" event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9 in Brazos Park East.
For more updates or to learn how you can help get the pride celebration up and running, you can visit the Waco Pride Network website.
