12 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | CORONAVIRUS NEWS
Qsaltlake.com | ISSUE 311 | May, 2020
Utah Pride Festival postponed to September The Utah Pride Center announced that the annual Utah Pride Festival, normally held the first week of June, has been postponed to September. “In an effort to keep everyone safe and allow the tens of thousands of people who enjoy the annual event to attend, the 2020 Utah Pride Festival is being moved to the end of September,” leaders said in a statement. “The Pride Days theme for 2020 is ‘Love On, Live On’ — our hope is that we can all focus on this message as we move through these uncertain times with optimism for better days to come.” “The 2020 Utah Pride Festival, presented by Mark Miller Subaru and Young Automotive Subaru, and the Utah Pride Parade, presented by Intermountain Healthcare and SelectHealth, and all of the related Pride Days events have been postponed due to imminent mass-gathering restrictions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. This decision was made based on Governor Gary Herbert’s ‘Utah Leads Together Plan’ and in consultation with our local public health sector,” the statement continues. The new dates for the Utah Pride Festival and Parade are September 26–27, 2020. As usual, the March and Rally, OUTdoors and Proud 5K, and the Festival Opening Ceremony will happen on Saturday. The Pride Parade and final day of the Festival in Washington Square will occur on Sunday. “With all the uncertainty and stress we’re all feeling due to this pandemic, let’s have Pride last all summer long, culminating with the biggest turn out we’ve ever seen at the Pride Festival in September. I think we could all use more love and Pride this year,” said Rob Moolman, executive director of the Utah Pride Center. Organizers are moving forward with volunteer applications and registration to be vendors and parade participants. They
have extended the deadlines. “Parade applications have been extended to May 1st and early-bird pricing for vendor booths has been extended to April 17th for the first 50 finalized booths,” the statement reads. Vendors and parade entrants who have already registered will have the option to participate on the new dates or receive a refund minus any application fees. For more details on these options, are available on the Utah Pride Center website. “As always, we continue to offer support to our LGBTQ+ Community and
allies at the Utah Pride Center. We will continue to monitor and follow any public health directives and update accordingly. In the meantime, we look forward optimistically to celebrating with you in September,” the leaders continued. “Even as we have temporarily closed the doors of our building, we are responding to the needs of many of the most vulnerable individuals in our communities. For an update on our current operations, including virtual programming and mental health services visit https://www.utahpridecenter.org” Q
Utah Arts Festival cancels 2020 event Calling it a postponement, the Utah Arts Festival will not take place in late June of this year due to “safety concerns and uncertainty related to COVID-19.” “After careful deliberation over the past month, the Utah Arts Festival has decided to postpone the 2020 Festival until June 2021,” leaders wrote in a statement. “The staff has been carefully monitoring local and national guidelines and recommendations for large-gatherings over the last couple of weeks. Taking into consideration the health and safety of the community, artists and all those involved with putting on the Festival, a decision was made to postpone the event until June 2021.” Rescheduling the festival was simply not an option, leaders say. “Delaying the Festival until the late summer or early fall isn’t as easy as it might seem. There are many moving parts, many people and many factors to consider. The option was evaluated thoroughly, but ultimately uncertainty about availability of artists, vendors, partners and volunteers, as well as the developing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic raised more concerns than solutions. For
that reason, we believe it is in the best interest of all involved to postpone the event to 2021,” Lisa Sewell, executive director of the Utah Arts Festival said In the coming weeks, the staff will be working with their artistic coordinators to identify opportunities that will allow the Utah Arts Festival to maintain its connection with the community and continue to support and promote art and artists as well as their other non-profit partners. Although the Utah Arts Festival will not have a physical Festival in 2020, they aim to keep the festival vibes alive. An announcement will made shortly relating to those future plans. The Utah Arts Festival is in its 44th year and features over 170 visual artists, more than 100 performing arts groups, and brings over 70,000 participants each June to celebrate artistic expression in the heart of Salt Lake City. The Festival includes top world, national and local musicians and performers and program slates in literary arts, visual arts, kids’ activities, dance performances, musical commissions, street theater, art & technology, urban arts, film and culinary arts. Q
