Haddon Township Pride Parade's 5th year in New Jersey comes alive with a message: "Choose joy"
Hundreds lined Haddon Avenue in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Thursday night for the annual , with all the colors and feelings of pride on full display.
"It's awesome, it's beautiful, it's what Pride is," said Lauren Smith from Voorhees.
The parade featured bands, floats, entertainment and participants of the two and four-legged variety.
"This is our second year coming. We came last year and had an absolute blast, so we're back again," said Gracie Broglin from West Deptford.
Randy Teague is the mayor of Haddon Township.
"It means that everyone is welcome, we're an inclusionary community and we accept everybody," says Teague.
For many, this night is a chance to be accepted.
"It just makes us feel very welcome and feel comfortable and safe together," said Dejenee Mathis from Marlton.
Emily Munsick came out with her wife and two little girls.
"It's really nice that this is here, they look around and they see, 'Oh, two moms, OK, I have the same thing,' so it's important to have that community," Munsick said.
This is the fifth year for the Haddon Township Pride Parade. Last year, more than 3,000 people marched in the parade and organizers said this year was even bigger.
Brendan Slavin is on the Board for the , which sponsors the parade.
"This year we actually are expecting about 4,000 (people) and we're about 30% larger on the participant count, businesses, local businesses that came in," Slavin said.
This year's theme is "Choose Joy," a message Slavin and many others hope will march on during this month of Pride and beyond.
"Joy is something that isn't given to you. So it's something the world can't take from you either. So in the world, you can choose to be angry, you can choose to be upset with everything, you can choose all this political climate stuff, just choose joy," Slavin said. "That's something you can protect, something that spreads easily, too. So just choose joy."
