Not for eight hours did the stage at the downtown Ocala Square go quiet during this year’s Ocala Pride Fest. Between live performances by local bands, vocalists and the dazzling drag queens and kings, Ocala’s downtown shimmered with the celebration of LGBTQ pride.
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After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, Ocala Pride Fest is back to celebrate LGBTQ culture with vendors, live music performances and an assortment of food. The Fest will take place at the downtown Ocala Square, 1 Northeast 1st Ave., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday The event organizers, Ocala Pride Inc., say that Pride Fest is needed now more than ever in light of the discourse around LGBTQ equality taking root in Florida and reverberating around the country. Coming after legislation like the Parental Rights in Education bill, or the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as its dubbed by critics, LGBTQ rights in Florida will take center stage in Ocala this weekend.
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After a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, both the Ocala and Gainesville Pride festivals are coming back. Ocala’s Pride celebration will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, in Ocala’s Downtown Historic Square. The event begins at 10 a.m., and it includes drag performances, local bands and artists, food trucks, face painting and other …
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A rescue mission — dubbed “Operation Noah's Ark” — was launched Tuesday to catch, cage and ferry the birds off the island, as a condition to persuade Peratino and Stepp to leave the island.
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For University of Florida senior Nile Bostic, it’s important to work for what she wants, in spite of expectations. Through hairstyling and cheerleading, she learned what brings her joy.
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Gainesville and eight other U.S. cities have joined a national initiative called One Nation/One Project that uses the arts to improve community well-being. Each city selects an issue for the focus of the project. The Gainesville City Commission recognized youth gun violence as its local issue. The commission said it has allocated 2% – or $648,172 – of American Rescue Plan Act money to fund the project, which will address youth violence through arts and culture interventions.
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Aces in Motion helps students ace middle and high school.
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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Even though a destructive hurricane tore through his community just days earlier, nothing was going to stop Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz from holding prayer services Tuesday night for the start of the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Throughout a southwest Florida devastated by Hurricane Ian, Jews …
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It’s third grade. Savannah Hudson has no idea a simple easter-egg-hunt would lead her to the love of her life. She opens up a small, plastic egg that holds the ticket to her future inside. Well, a coupon. Inside the egg is a coupon for a free horse-riding lesson at …
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A group of people wearing the same blue T-shirts gathered at Depot Park on Saturday. Some were running, while others were walking around the exhibition highlighting practical ways to recover from addiction. “I was an alcoholic for about 35 years. I lost my house, my wife (and) my job. I …
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WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville