‘A sense of community’: Pride is thriving in downtown Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Pride Festival is this weekend, and as with any downtown event, safety is top of mind for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

The weekend kicks off Friday evening with Beats on Broad at 6 p.m. at the Augusta Common.

Then the Pride Parade will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the Augusta Pride Festival at the Common.

“Fifteen years of Augusta Pride, we’ve been in the city,” said Michael Barnard Jenkins, Augusta Pride president.

He noted it all started with an event expected to draw 100 people, and now attendance is up to more than 15,000.

It’s worth it to see the results after working on putting it together for so long.

“The people – it is always the people. Coming out and seeing it all come together after working 365 days to put it together. Standing back and seeing the smiling faces, the families just come out and being able to be themselves have a good time, being able to find resources they need,” he said.

“I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you. You know, I found a sense of belonging. I’ve found a sense of community.’ And I think that is the most important thing for me, is just continuing to do something for the greater good.”

We spoke with deputies about their safety plan for the weekend – and what their officer presence looks like during the day.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has community safety officers stationed all across downtown. They’re in yellow shirts, and either on foot or in golf carts.

Maj. Robbie Silas said with recent security additions, more people are comfortable coming downtown.

“It’s a lot safer environment and folks are able to come down and join themselves,” Silas said.

And that’s good for business.

“Especially right now with all the construction going on on Broad Street, you know, I think our downtown businesses thrive on our local festivals,” Jenkins said. “You know, Augusta Pride has had over $1.2 million worth of economic impact in one year alone for the city of Augusta.”

Festivals like Pride bring an even bigger security presence.

“With these large gatherings, we have increased presence at them. We have the Pride Festival coming this weekend and we’ve added extra security for this one and other events that are coming,” Silas said. “We have some great events coming down here, and we have adequate protection.”

Businesses will like that – especially ones that depend on foot traffic, like Grantski Records.

“We rely on in-person sales for the bulk of our revenue. So it’s tantamount that people are walking around and enjoying the city,” said Bryson Chapman, who works at Grantski. “So it means a lot to us. It’s very important.”

Part of the downtown security comes from getting to know the business owners and being there day in and day out.

That’s comforting to Diane Francis, who works at Cafe on 8th.

“We have one CSO detective, I think he’s here almost every day,” she said, “and so he’s part of what’s going on to make sure everything is OK – people from out there and even in here are safe.”

Jenkins said the festival organizers have a protocol to keep things safe.

“Rest assured we have never had any issues at our festival,” he said. “We work very closely with Richmond County, so just know the organizers work really, really hard, including myself, to put this event on and in a safe manner.”

He invites everyone to enjoy Pride this weekend.

“Come out. You can expect food vendors, craft vendors, resources for the community 365 days of the year, and overall, just a good time,” he said.

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