Philly Pride kicks off with new party

    Philadelphia is gearing up to welcome thousands for the annual Pride celebration, which this year will feature new opportunities to show pride in the LGBT community.

    The Pride parade will kick off at noon June 10 in the Gayborhood, followed by the Penn’s Landing festival, which will run until 6 p.m.

    The parade will proceed east on Locust Street from 13th to Washington Square Park, head north on Seventh Street, then east on Market and across the I-95 overpass to the festival at Penn’s Landing.

    Before Sunday’s festivities, Pride will celebrate its official kick off with a block party in the Gayborhood, a new addition this year.

    The party, which will run from 6-11 p.m. June 8, will take over 12th Street between Spruce and Walnut.

    Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, said the block party was a way for the kickoff celebration to encompass more venues in the Gayborhood.

    “We’ve had the party at just one bar in the past but we didn’t want to single out any one place,” Price said. “We get so much support throughout the year from a lot of places in the Gayborhood, so we wanted to open this up. And since it’s earlier in the night, people who don’t stay out too late can go, and then people who go out clubbing later can make an appearance and then go out to all the other places in the Gayborhood.”

    The party will feature an outdoor DJ, a food booth and drinks from the local bars, as well as a fundraising carnival game staged by Knock. Philly Pride Presents volunteers will be on hand selling wristbands for Sunday’s festival to save Pridegoers time in line.

    Pride will mark the end of the months-long Weigh It Forward challenge, in which four community members have been on a weight-loss mission that has so far raised more than $16,000 in pledges for local LGBT groups.

    Price, who is participating along with Micah Mahjoubian, Debbie Spadafora and Dan Calhoun, said she’s looking forward to the final weigh-in.

    “I’m glad that some of the pressure of asking for pledges will be over, but I’m so proud of the funds that we’ve raised for the community and all of the work that the Fat Pack — which we won’t be able to call ourselves much longer — has done,” she said. “On the day of Pride, I’ll actually be able to be running around without huffing and puffing, so I feel really good.”

    When Sunday rolls around, the parade is expected to be even larger than last year. Price expects 55 contingents to march, compared with last year’s 51.

    Riding atop the grand-marshal float will be Brian Sims, the out Democratic Pennsylvania House candidate (who has no challenger in the general election) and band Betty, longtime performers at both Pride and OutFest, along with Youth Grand Marshals Azeem Hill and Phantazia Washington.

    This year’s Friend of Pride honor will go to City Councilwoman-at-Large Blondell Reynolds Brown, who recently spearheaded a number of pro-LGBT measures, such as last year’s successful measure that mandated certain city contractors offer domestic-partner benefits.

    “It is such a joy when someone stops to let you know that your work product matters, that you have made a positive difference in people’s lives,” Reynolds Brown said. “I am looking forward to a fun and exciting day with the LGBT community, where we will celebrate the great diversity we enjoy in Philadelphia.”

    Price said parade-watchers can expect a wealth of entertainment.

    “Our parade is all about performance,” she said. “A lot of Pride parades have 12 floats in a row with muscle men and, yes, we’ll have some floats with muscle men, but we have a lot of contingents that will be performing and have been practicing for this for months.”

    A number of parade participants will also perform on the festival stage, joining what Price said will be a top-notch docket of entertainment, led by talk-show host and headliner Wendy Williams.

    Fans can submit questions that Williams will answer on stage through Philly Pride Presents’ website (www.phillypridepresents.org).

    “She’s one of the most popular headliners that I think we’ve ever had,” Price said. “Not a day has gone by recently that I haven’t gotten a phone call from someone who’s so excited about her. She’s really the top gossip person of our generation, so she’ll be bringing us all the latest hot topics.”

    The lineup also includes performances by Divas in a Man’s World, Sabrina Johnston, Jonathan Hernandez, Betty, Liberty City Kings, performers from “SAGA: The Rock Opera,” Finesse Rose, Shannon Agnew, Miss Philly Gay Pride The Goddess Isis and Mr. Philly Gay Pride Rough RydeHer.

    About 150 vendors will be on hand at the festival, with all tent space sold out and only a limited number of 6-foot spaces still left.

    The only question mark is, of course, the weather.

    “We’re always hoping for good weather but we’ll be out there no matter what, rain or shine,” Price said.

    Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].

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