PrideFest Preview: Sending a message in wake of Orlando massacre

With tens of thousands of people expected to descend on the Capital City this weekend for the 40th anniversary of PrideFest we caught up with a woman who marched in the very first parade to get her thoughts on safety and moving forward in the wake of the Orlando massacre.

"We expected guns, knives something and it didn’t happen,” said 71-year-old Belle Pellegrino about the city’s first Gay Pride Parade.

Now, all these years later Pellegrino says we’ve come further than she’s ever thought possible. But, in the wake of unimaginable terror in Orlando, the Providence resident is hoping this weekends Pride Fest sends a strong message.

"With all of these lives lost and that people are still doing these kinds of horrible things 40 years later, it tears us apart but at the same time we’ve seen the progress we’ve made. We know today what we knew then, they can’t stop us. Love was going to win in the end no matter what,” said Pellegrino.

With 35,000 to 40,000 expected to turnout for this years celebrations, Providence police tell ABC 6 News they’re stepping up patrols. The Director of the Board of Rhode Island Pride, Davide Gnoato, adding that they’re working closely with law enforcement to make sure people are safe. In fact they have a final meeting to discuss logistics Thursday night.

"To supplement the safety team that we have of volunteers we have also hired a private security company and in light of what happened on Sunday and speaking with the city and the state they would like to see more officials downtown,” said Gnoato.

Gnoato saying while he’s not worried but he is warning everyone to be cautious.

"We have been re-enforcing to all of our volunteers at our volunteer orientations that if they see something that they feel is out of the ordinary to find either a police officer or someone on security so we can radio that in,” said Gnoato.

As for Pellegrino, she says fear will not hold her back.

"I’m going to live my life and I will not let them win."

PrideFest kicks off on South Water Street at noon on Saturday.. There will be a parade at sunset.

(C) WLNE 2016