The Pride Guide booklets have gone to press and the final parade route is viewable online as Chicago readies for the 43rd Annual Pride Parade, scheduled for June 24.
According to Parade Coordinator Rich Pfeiffer, there are more than 100 events scheduled for this year's pride month in June.
The stakes are high for this year's parade after last year's parade brought in nearly double the expected attendees, overwhelming parade security and resulting in chaos along the route.
The route has been redone for the first time in more than two decades to ease the potential for overcrowding. Organizers announced the new route last October.
Rumors have circulated that the route changed recently. According to Pfeiffer, no changes have been made to the event in recent months.
The parade kicks of at noon at Montrose and Broadway and heads south. It continues south on Halsted at Grace, turning east on Belmont and then south on Broadway, finishing up eastbound on Diversey to Cannon Drive.
Pfeiffer said he believes that the change in route answers concerns raised after last year's parade.
"We're confident," he said. "Everything has been proceeding very smoothly."
Pride guides will be distributed throughout the city in the coming weeks. A calendar of events and information on the parade is available online at www.chicagopridecalendar.org .