A Quick Guide to Charlotte Pride 2014

The Charlotte Pride Festival and Parade returns this year, with even more to offer. Organizers expect 80,000 attendees, and if you pair that with the preseason Panthers game on Sunday, we can expect a busy Uptown. Thankfully, the city is picking up the pace, with the Lynx light rail running every 10 minutes for this event.

So what’s all happening with Pride? Isn’t just a parade and some music? Much more than that, actually. Check out our quick guide below, which offers a broad look at this year's offerings.

Festival hours:
Saturday, 12 p.m.-10 p.m.
Sunday, 12 p.m.-6 .m.

The festival takes place in the PNC Bank Festival Zone, located on South Tryon St. between Fourth and Stonewall streets. More than 100 vendors are represented, which live music happening on the Wells Fargo Stage, located on the Stonewall St. side.

The festival's Family Zone offers kid-friendly activities, including some from Discovery Place. This zone is open 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and is located on Tryon St., between Third St. and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art (420 South Tryon St.) hosts Flourish, a minifestival that shines a light on the local LGBTQ community. Check out its full schedule of events here.

A LGBTQ-friendly college fair, running from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, connects students to schools across the region and nation. The college fair is held on Levine Avenue of the Arts.

LeAnn Rimes headlines this weekend's music festivities, performing at 4 p.m., Sunday. Other acts performing throughout the weekend include Sevyn Streeter, Bianca Del Rio, Rye Rye, Blake Lewis, and local acts, such as Miami Dice, which you might remember from the DrumStrong Festival.

Also: South Tryon St. and Fourth St. hosts the event's food vendors this year. Beer stations will also be available in multiple spots throughout the festival.

Parade hours:
Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

The parade starts at  the intersection of Tryon and Ninth streets, and it ends at Tryon and Third streets.