The weeklong celebration by Tallahassee's lesbian, gay and transgender

community includes parties, performances, readings, an art exhibit and the festival's centerpiece, Pride in the Park. This year, Pride in the Park moves from its previous location at Tom Brown Park to the heart of downtown.

     "This year, rather than doing what some have called 'gay hide' . . . we're bringing all of our events into downtown and midtown Tallahassee," said festival organizer Steven Hall. "Instead of a one-afternoon event at a park on the outskirts of town, we are hosting eight different events."

      It wouldn't be a Tallahassee PrideFest without Jade Esteban Estrada, the "Prince of Pride." The effervescent entertainer will perform the third and final installment of his "ICONS: The Lesbian & Gay History of the World" series, in which he has portrayed such notable historical and cultural figures as Sappho, Oscar Wilde, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander the Great, Queen Christina of Sweden and Michelangelo.

      "When I created the first ICONS installment, I decided to call it 'Vol. 1' because the history of any people is like a vast ocean," Estrada said in a phone interview. "Doing a performance like (ICONS) is like dipping a bucket in the ocean — you can only get so much at one time. I knew it had to be a trilogy."

      In the third "ICONS" revue, Estrada delivers his takes on the Old Testament's Naomi, King James I (he of Bible revision fame), Bessie Smith, Greg Louganis and vice-presidential daughter Mary Cheney.

      Estrada will be around for the full week of Pride activities and will act as emcee of Pride in the Park.

      "Tallahassee has been so amazing to me," he said. "Coming here is like coming home."