A crowd gathers during last year’s Brunswick Pride Festival. Courtesy of Brunswick Pride Festival

The Brunswick Pride Festival returns for another year in June, and organizers are expecting a huge turnout.

The festival is from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 10, at the Town Mall. About 1,000 people attended last year; this year’s event is expected to draw about twice that figure, organizers said. New this year are a maker’s market, a Pride Ride and more food trucks.

The event coincides with Pride Month, and town officials this year again approved painting a crosswalk by the Town Mall in rainbow colors in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

“The response to last year’s Pride was a resounding ‘Yes, our community wants and needs this,'” Brunswick Pride Committee member Lydia Coburn said. “I feel incredible gratitude for the people who helped make it happen and came out to support the LGBTQIA+ community I am so proud to be a part of.”

This year’s celebration comes amid heightened national tension, as states pass restrictions on gender-affirming care, bathroom access and sports participation for trans people, and consumers call for boycotts of retailers who show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

“In recent years, the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender people and LGBTQ+ youth, have been hurt by bad bills and policies,” said committee member Sen. Mattie Daughtry. “These harmful laws deny queer people access to health care, censor LGBTQ+ curriculum and history, prevent queer people from finding housing or work, and slow — and sometimes reverse — the progress we’ve made to accept, support and affirm the LGBTQ+ community.

“For these reasons, Pride isn’t just a festival; it’s a powerful recommitment to the cause of advancing equality, which continues to march from generation to generation. Brunswick Pride offers a family-friendly event that focuses on joy — and creates a safe space for everyone to celebrate.”

Rioters and vandals have targeted recent Pride events. Last year, motorcyclists defaced the Brunswick Pride crosswalk by leaving skid marks, and in Idaho, police arrested 31 people accused of trying to organize a riot at a Pride parade.

Brunswick Police Chief Scott Stewart said the Brunswick Pride Festival organizers requested to hire several detail officers for the event.

“We are treating this like any other event and will give the area extra attention,” Stewart said Tuesday.

The festival will feature music, face painting and family-friendly games and activities. There will be about 60 artists, businesses and organizations featured on the Town Mall.

“It connects really nicely to our artist community and acknowledges there’s a big portion of the community that’s LGBTQ,” Coburn said.

The Pride Ride is set for Sunday morning and will feature 14-mile route and a 5-mile route, with stops at local breweries and Wild Oats Bakery & Café.

For more information on the festival, visit brunswickpride.org.