SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Springfield leaders have announced the dates, times, and events for this year’s Pride Parade.

The parade marks its fifth year, a milestone founder Taurean Bethea said he never expected to see. “We plan for like just 500 people, so it was really just creating just like an event,” said Bethea, executive director of the Springfield Pride Parade Organization. “For us to get over 5,000 people, I, that’s when I was like, oh yeah, we might be here for a while.”

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno emphasized the importance of the event for young people in the community. “To highlight this and to open up opportunities for young people is extremely important,” Sarno explained. “We have to show them that love and respect and pride are going to champion.”

Organizers noted they are working to make sure everyone feels welcome in Western Massachusetts. “No matter what happens at that federal level, no matter how much they try to break us down, no matter how much they try to pass laws to help us feel unseen, we are not having it. We are determined,” said Helen Caulton Harris, Springfield’s Health and Human Services Commissioner.

Parade weekend will return the weekend of June 4 through 6. More information can be found here.