But there is far more to the annual celebration of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community than tattooed stilt walkers and men in bright-colored wigs.

Utah Pride has grown into an event billed as Utah's second largest parade and festival behind only the Days of 47 celebration in July.

The parade itself has grown to 65 entries, including an impressive number of corporations not seen in many other parades, including banking giant Wells Fargo and financial services conglomerate American Express. The festival, put on by the Utah Pride Center, attracted about 150 exhibitors.

"We've grown tremendously in just the last couple of years," said Yana Walton of the Utah Pride Center, which organized both the parade and festival.

The crowds too, have grown both in terms of size and diversity compared with earlier years. In fact, many in the large crowds of people lining 200 East from South Temple to 4th South said while they aren't gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, they decided to come to the parade and festival to show their enthusiasm for diversity and to enjoy a very atypical Utah celebration. Many brought their children.

"I'm not gay or anything but I wanted to come to support everybody here," said Lupe Perez of Orem, who attended the parade with friends and family.

Other parade-goers, such as Alex Wells of Sandy, said he has noticed just how diverse the celebration has become in recent years.

"I like the fact that this is a celebration for everyone, not just the gay community," he said. "It's come a long way."

Unlike some other pride parades held worldwide each year, Salt Lake City's event is more celebration than demonstration. Aside from a few floats, such as one questioning the U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq, most parade entries were out to have a good time or raise awareness of their group or organization, not to make a statement.

"It's just a huge party," said Walton of the Utah Pride Center, which provides resources to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, or GLBT for short. "We're here to educate and celebrate the GLBT community."

Grand marshals were Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and the Salt Lake City Council, who were chosen in recognition of their support of a citywide domestic-partnership registry.

At the parade, Becker and council members were joined by other Utah politicians, including Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's group also had a presence.

Rounding out the parade were entries by energy-drink companies, beer companies, a hotel company, radio stations and numerous organizations that serve the GLBT community.

"It's great to see how large this event is now. Two years ago, there were probably half as many people here," said Adam Farrer of Salt Lake City, who has attended the parade in each of the last three years.

Elena Nielson of Lehi said she too was amazed at the spirit of the celebration.

"It's great to see an event like this," she said. "It's not something you'd expect for Utah."