SALISBURY — Fourteen years ago, Tamara Sheffield stood with the other founding members of Salisbury Pride as then-mayor Susan Kluttz signed a proclamation from the city honoring the first official Pride festival. On Saturday, Sheffield signed her first Pride proclamation as the mayor of Salisbury.

“If I stand back and look at it, it’s overwhelming as a person. Going from not even all of Fisher Street to what this has turned into, how much the community has just embraced all of the citizens who live here and breathe here,” said Sheffield.

Sheffield said that when she was on the stage at the Bell Tower Green and reading out the proclamation, she thought about the original proclamation, which she had framed and put on her wall, and “got emotional, thinking about how it’s all come full circle.”

Sheffield was among a group who got together in 2011 with the aim of finding ways to celebrate the diversity of the community with a focus on providing a safe and joyful space for members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community. That culminated in the first Pride festival that year, which took up all of one block on Fisher Street.

Since the group was founded, the organization and several individuals have won multiple awards for their work in supporting the local LGBTQIA+ community. In 2014, the board members received the Trailblazer Award from the Human Rights Campaign for their work promoting visibility and increasing public support and education about the LGBTQIA+ community in their hometown.

In 2022, Sheffield received the Harvey Milk award at Charlotte Pride, which is given to people throughout the region who showcase exceptional leadership, service to the community and who champion LGBTQIA+ causes.

Sheffield was elected to the Salisbury City Council in 2017 and made history as the first openly gay candidate to win election in the city. Since then, she has been appointed as the mayor of Salisbury. following the death of Mayor Karen Alexander, a relationship and personal history that she said has only added to the emotions surrounding the festival for her.

“It’s just overwhelming to me to think about all of this and to follow in the footsteps of such incredible female leaders. I’m really just thankful to be here today,” said Sheffield.

In 2011, the organizers only allotted a block for the event because they expected a couple hundred attendees. Approximately 2,500 people attended the event.

In the 14 years since, the event has only grown, with the estimates for Saturday being in the thousands as well.

“If you look around at everyone here, you wouldn’t be able to count the number of smiles if you tried. This truly is a festival for everybody,” said Sheffield.

Ashley Martin and Stevie Young made their way to downtown Salisbury from Charlotte for the festival and said that one of the things that blew them away was the sense of community evident on Saturday.

“There is a sense of familiarity and camaraderie that I’ve experienced here that I just have not experienced at (uptown Charlotte’s) parade, it really can be nameless and faceless, there’s just a large congregation of people,” said Martin.

Young agreed with her, adding “Just walking around, the fact of how everyone seems to know everyone, makes it very special. There’s just a lot of support everywhere.”

To Martin and Young’s point, the theme for this year was “community.”

“The theme community was chosen for several reasons. Part of the mission of Salisbury Pride is to create safe spaces and to promote visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. The theme also represents the community of Salisbury, Rowan County and surrounding areas who came to the Pride Festival to celebrate together. In addition, the theme COMMUNITY acknowledges all those who uplift and support the LGBTQIA+ community not only on the day of the Pride Festival but every day,” wrote Salisbury Pride President Michael Brooks in an email.

As in recent years, the event has expanded from its original one block footprint to include all of the Bell Tower Green, the Salisbury Post and former Wells Fargo parking lots and multiple blocks of South Church and West Fisher streets.

Throughout those areas, dozens of vendors had tents and food trucks set up along with local nonprofit organizations, churches and other organizations from throughout the community.

“The Salisbury Pride Festival was a huge success thanks to the many volunteers, sponsors, entertainers, vendors and community members as well as to all those who attended. There was a tremendous amount of joy, love and pride. The Salisbury Pride Board is grateful to all who supported and attended the 2025 Salisbury Pride Festival,” wrote Brooks.