LA Pride 2018 attracted a record number of attendees

Thousands of Angelenos and out-of-towners took to the streets in West Hollywood on Sunday for the annual LA Pride Parade.

The signature event in a weekend full of LGBTQ celebrations, the annual tradition—back to a parade format after last year’s Resist March—made its way along Santa Monica Boulevard as around 170,000 participants and spectators celebrated inclusiveness, tolerance and this year’s theme, “just be.”

On the ticketed festival side, organizer Christopher Street West sold out the LA Pride Festival for the first time in its 40-year history, with around 40,000 attendees flocking to stages and pop-ups along the streets near West Hollywood Park. That’s great, right? Well, not if you were one of the hopeful attendees—including existing ticket holders—who were turned away at the gates on Saturday night due to the event hitting capacity.

With sets from Kehlani, Tove Lo and Icona Pop, the event seemed to deliver desirable acts without the blowback from 2016’s ill-fated attempt at turning the ticketed event into a higher-priced music festival. The event event featured a surprise appearance from Christina Aguilera during Sunday’s drag competition.