ATLANTA — Atlanta honors Pride Month in June — but holds its biggest LGBTQ+ celebration in October. Here's why.

For many cities across the U.S., June is filled with rainbow flags, parades, and parties marking LGBTQ+ Pride Month. But in Atlanta, the city’s largest and oldest Pride celebration doesn’t happen until the second weekend of October.

That decision, rooted in weather, history and strategy, makes Atlanta’s Pride Festival one of the most unique — and well-attended — in the country.

A drought changed everything

Before 2008, Atlanta held its main Pride celebration in June, aligning with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. But a major drought that year forced the city to restrict large gatherings in Piedmont Park, where the festival traditionally took place.

Organizers sc

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