Palm
Springs Gay Pride Parade
Initially
batted around over drinks among members of the women’s community
at the Desert Palms Inn, Palm Springs Pride today is one of the two
or three largest events each year in the Valley with attendance in
excess of 30,000 to 40,000 and drawing not only from the Valley, but
from regions well beyond.
As the
event grew beyond the women’s community, the picnic grew ever
larger and more festive and moved from venue to venue as it grew –
until one day it was not only a festival, but a Pride Parade had sprung
from those humble beginnings with the cooperation of city officials
and become the exciting event we know today.
Today
that once-picnic is a three day festival celebrating diversity and
bringing revenue to hoteliers, restraunteurs, city tax coffers, and
more as visitors throng the town for the event. Working closely with
the city, organizers have built up a good reputation for the event
with an exciting parade and a festival that, on moving from Arenas
to the Palm Springs Stadium went from 40 vendor booths to over 200.
IT HAS BEEN ABLE TO INCREASINGLY GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
AND LAST YEAR $70,000.00 WAS TURNED BACK TO THE CITY AND VARIOUS CHARITIES
AND ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.. The City of Palm Springs
estimates a $3,000,000.00 trickle down to our region directly attributed
to our event.
The festival
today features an art show, two dance floors (disco and western),
main stage entertainment, sixteen food vendors, and more. Palm Springs
Pride will officially begin this year with an invitation-only reception
on the evening of November 4th, with the festival opening at the Palm
Springs Stadium at 10 a.m on Saturday, November 5th (remaining open
until 9 p.m.), with the festival opening again on Sunday at 10 a.m.,
and continuing until 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate both
days. Admission is free for children under 14. All others $10.00 per
day. The Pride Parade proper, the climax of the weekend, will step
off AT 10AM ON SUNDAY FROM ALEJO, SOUTH TO RAMON RD.
For more
information on Palm Springs Pride, an increasingly family event, contact
organizers at 611 S. Palm Canyon Dr. PMB 7436 Palm Springs, CA 92264
Voice: 760-416-8711 Fax: 760-323-8704
