Hundreds of Valley residents gathered at Tempe Town Lake on Saturday to “walk for unity in the community.”

Hosted by the city of Tempe, the annual Regional Unity Walk and Diversity Festival was held at the art park at Tempe Town Lake for the sixth consecutive year.

For the event, participants walked one mile together with other residents from their city.

Upon the morning arrival at the various city assembly points, participants from the Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe and students from ASU were given a colored T-shirt that represented their individual cities and read “Together We’re Better.”

Families, community organizations and church groups participated in the mile-long walk that ended in a diversity festival at the Tempe Art Park that featured a live band, food and inflatable moon bounce for children.

Sporting a red T-shirt for the city of Tempe, Dick Bryce, a 69-year-old Tempe resident, said the unity walk was a wonderful and refreshing demonstration compared to the last one he attended during the Vietnam War which turned out to be violent.

“Cities walked in from separate directions, and it was great to see everyone come together at one point and stand united,” Bryce said. “It’s a very eclectic group of individuals.”

Bryce said he participated after hearing about it from the Martin Luther King breakfast.

“I would have never known about it otherwise,” he said. “I hope this event grows and I think it will.”

Taylor Donald of Phoenix and Irais Arreola of Tempe, both 15, attended the walk as part of the organization Stand and Serve, which is offered through their schools.

“Stand and Serve demonstrates respect as the norm,” Donald said. “We respect everybody, regardless of who they are, where they come from, their body type or just anything.”

As a first-time participant in the walk, Donald said she thought the point of being unified was made clear through the use of colored shirts.

“It stood out and showed that even though we are all different, we can all be the same,” she said.

Arreola, who has walked in the event for two years, said she has seen the event continue to grow each year.

“More and more people are coming and it just goes to show that people want to be united,” Arreola said.

Rosa Inchausti, the Tempe diversity manager, said the event is important in understanding that equality exists in a region as diverse as the East Valley.

“The Valley has such a diversity of people, thought and public policy that is important for us to show unity and be united against discrimination and hatred,” Inchausti said in a press release.

Reach the reporter at brianna.mattox@asu.edu.