MAY 2, 2019 |
SNEAK PEEK TO PRIDE | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 15
Issue 299 | Qsaltlake.com
A Sneak Peek at Utah Pride This year’s Utah Pride Days will begin May 17 with the Utah Pride Spectacular. Once the Wednesday or Thursday of Pride, it will be held two weeks before the big festival weekend and parade. The Utah Pride Festival is a community event which features a broad spectrum of activities and entertainment. The 44th Utah Pride Festival will be held June 1–2 at Washington Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Pride 2019 is excited to offer additional celebratory events, diverse food and booth vendors, venue upgrades and excellent entertainment options. The overall theme this year is “Exist. Resist. Persist. Celebrating 50 years of Stonewall.” The beginnings of Pride worldwide are generally attributed to an uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village in June, 1969. From its humble beginnings in 1974 as an informal gathering in the park, the Utah Pride Festival has come a long way. It is now a major Salt Lake City event that grows bolder and brighter every year. The Festival empowers the LGBTQ+ community of Salt Lake, as well as the state of Utah as a whole, to come together and celebrate. The Festival is now attended by more than 50,000 people and continues to grow each year. In 2018, the Pride Parade attracted 50,000 spectators. A broad spectrum of people can be found at all these events, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, their family members and allies.
Booths and Parade Applications are now being taken on the Utah Pride Center website for booth rentals and parade entries. Standard registration for exhibitors ends April 20, with late registration extending through May 10 depending on availability. Rates vary depending on profit/nonprofit status and the size of the organization. Small grassroots organizations and arts and crafts organizations can participate in a tent with other similar groups. An interactive zone will be set up and a new kink zone is still in
the works. Parade applications are being taken through April 1. Because of the continued growth of the parade, new this year is a series of questions on the application which will help a selection committee determine which groups will be allowed to participate. Parade organizers typically receive over 200 applications to participate, but only 150 can be accommodated. Consideration of the size and number of participants of the parade entry, its focus on the LGBTQ+ community, and the “intersectionality of oppressions” of the applying group.
Schedule PRIDE SPECTACULAR kicks of Utah Pride Days on Friday May 17, from 6 to 9.30 p.m. at the Union Events Center 235 N. 500 West. The REAL SALT LAKE PRIDE NIGHT will be held at their stadium, 9256 State St, Sandy. Details are still forthcoming. The PRIDE INTERFAITH SERVICE will be Thursday May 30 from 7 to 8 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church, 2375 E. 3300 South. The guest speaker will be Bishop Karen Oliveto, he first openly lesbian bishop of the United Methodist Church and the Bishop of Utah, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming United Methodist Churches.
The YOUTH PRIDE DANCE will be from 8 to 11 p.m. on Friday May 31 on the Festival Grounds. Entrance at 500 S. State Street. OUTDOORS and PROUD 5K will be the morning of Saturday June 1 from 8 to 11 a.m. at Jordan Park & Peace Gardens, 1060 S. 900 West The annual PRIDE MARCH AND
RALLY will be Saturday June 1 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Utah State Capitol south stairs, 350 N. State Street. The FESTIVAL itself will be Saturday June from 1 to 11 p.m. and Sunday June 2 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Washington Square, the park around the Salt Lake City and County Building. The UTAH PRIDE PARADE will again take place Sunday June 2 beginning at 10 a.m. at West Temple, running along Second South to Fourth East. Other events are in the planning stages as well and will be in the next issue of QSaltLake Magazine, along with some of the entertainment highlights. Q More information at utahpridecenter.org
