People from all over Minnesota and beyond descended on Minneapolis on Saturday, filling Loring Park with music, laughter, food and uniquely crafted rainbow outfits — pets included.

Twin Cities Pride is the third largest pride event in the country and largest free pride event in the world, said Board Chair J’Kalein Madison. Twin Cities Pride has been around since 1972, evolving over the years since into the huge event it is today.

“We have estimated anywhere between 6 and 700,000 people will make their way into this park over the weekend,” Madison shared. “And I mean, we’re ready for them.”

About 300 volunteers were on the ground Saturday and will be again Sunday, he noted.

As good as the eats and other festivities — like glitter and photo booths — around the park, those aren’t the primary drivers for attendees like Ronniece Wattley who traveled from New Hope with her cousin.

“Mainly what I think it’s about is being there for one another, no matter what gender, what race, what ethnicity, it don’t matter, it’s just being there for one another,” Wattley said.

“Pride started as a riot, with the Stonewall riots” in New York City in the late 1960s, Madison explained.

“Shortly thereafter, it took this community here to create its own March, and we’ve kind of kept that legacy going. And, we wanted to honor that, we wanted to honor all those people that came before us that truly got us to this point,” he continued.

Those very people were the inspiration behind this year’s Dan Mendez Remembrance Garden.

“He was known for his deep involvement in the festival, and his voice could be recognized announcing the Pride Parade,” a spokesperson for the festival wrote in an email. “The Dan Mendez Remembrance Garden serves as a way to honor his life and for anyone to memorialize an LGBTQ+ individual.”

Display creator Jan Sleets passed out ribbons and tags for anyone wishing to memorialize a special someone by tying the memento onto several on-theme metal frames.

“What inspired me to do the pride piece is my daughter and the support that I have for her,” Sleets explained, also thanking Minneapolis-based organization Twin Cities Maker for making the garden possible.

The festival is scheduled to wrap up at 7 p.m. and return on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Twin Cities Pride Parade is at 11 a.m.