Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Puerto Vallarta's LGBT community held the city's first Gay Pride Festival with assistance from the municipal government. From May 24th to 26th, 2013, various hotels, beach clubs, restaurants and bars in the iconic Romantic Zone, Vallarta's most popular gay district, held events to celebrate diversity in the city.

The long-awaited Vallarta Pride 2013 kicked off on May 24th with an elegant cocktail reception at Taste Restaurant in Casa Cupula Hotel, featuring a famous dance number from the 2010 show "Broadway Bares / Equity Fights AIDS" called "Stripopoly" and a number from last year's production of "Happy Endings."

In addition, a fabulous raffle was held for a 2 night stay at Casa Cupula and a dinner for two at Taste. Part of the funds that were raised though drink sales will be donated to SETAC to assist them in continuing their cause.

At 11 am on Saturday, May 25th, Lido Beach Club on Los Muertos Beach hosted a mass ceremony in which same-sex couples symbolically committed to their love or reaffirmed their marriage vows in front of friends and family. Twenty-five couples pledged their love in front of ministers Marivel Mendoza and Maurice Monette, who led the symbolic commitment ceremony. This event was designed to promote LGBT rights and LGBT tourism in Vallarta. While gay marriage is not legal in the state of Jalisco, event organizers are interested in promoting Puerto Vallarta as a destination for LGBT symbolic weddings or honeymoons.

Afterwards, the popular Blue Chairs Hotel hosted an 'Urban Tribal' fashion show featuring local fashion designers. Following the fashion show, Blue Chairs and Lido Beach Club threw a joint beach party featuring DJ Mike Peña spinning a mix of dance, pop and Latin beats. At 6 pm, El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club hosted a public cocktail reception featuring award-winning artist Claudia Bremer, followed by a free beach screening of the Oscar-winning film, Frida.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered at the corner of Aquiles Serdan and Ignacio L. Vallarta for the 4:00 pm start of the much anticipated Pride Parade. Featuring more than 20 floats, the parade route continued down the streets of Ignacio L. Vallarta, Basilio Badillo, Insurgentes, and finally Venustiano Carranza to finish at Lazaro Cardenas Park.

ACT II was commissioned to produce a 4-hour musical event that started at 5:00 pm and was hosted by La Supermana and Edgar Sanchez, bringing together some of the best local talent to put on a fantastic open air concert. The talented DJ Marco, one of the most popular in Vallarta, was in charge of spinning the opening set, and he put out a fabulous mix of beats that had festival-goers on the dance floor.

In conjunction with the sponsors, the Vallarta Pride Organizing Committee raffled fabulous prizes to raise funds and continue to promote Pride events for 2014. There were also numerous food stalls, community organizations, and local businesses participating in the park festivities, joining in the celebration of equality.

All-in-all, event organizers, sponsors, participants, and the LGBT community were pleased with the acceptance and success of what was the first Gay Pride Festival in Vallarta.