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Boise Pride Festival kicks off on Friday with live music, performances and fireworks

"Each year the event just continues to get bigger and better."

BOISE, Idaho — Boise Pride Festival kicked off Friday with the rainbow Pride flag being hoisted in front of City Hall. 

This marks the 30th anniversary of the Pridefest, which has grown from "an informal gathering" in 1989 to a weekend-long celebration featuring a parade and more than two dozen events.

Organizer Joseph Kibbe said the noon flag-raising was a great way to get Pridefest started. 

"Each year the event just continues to get bigger and better," he said. "The last two years have been a really dynamic partnership with the City of Boise."

Boise Pride runs Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15 at Cecil D. Andrus Park across from the Idaho Statehouse. Friday's lineup will feature music and performances beginning at 4 p.m. and wrapping up with a fireworks show at 10:30 p.m. 

Saturday morning will bring a rally at the Capitol and the Pride Parade before more performances at the park. Boise Pride will wrap up Sunday with a "recovery brunch" at Amsterdam Lounge downtown. 

Kibbe said he is expecting a big turnout. 

"I'm really looking forward to record-breaking crowds, a great event, lots of fun for all the people who are going to be attending over the weekend. The atmosphere in the city is really positive right now," he said.

The vision for the festival is to create a community in Boise that consistently celebrates the diversity of sexual orientations and identities and to embrace differences.

For a full list of events, click here.

MORE: Boise Pride reaches fundraising goal to light Statehouse from afar

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