Jun 20, 2008  |  By: ZACK ROSEN  | COMMENTS     

Though Capital Pride has come and gone, it’s not the last gay celebration in the Washington area. Baltimore Pride, Capital Pride’s smaller and more raucous cousin, takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 21 and 22, giving Charm City gays a celebration of their own.

This year’s theme is “Live. Love. Be’more,” and the “more” will certainly be on display. Baltimore Pride attracts a large crowd, with this year’s tally expected to range from 20,000-30,000 attendees.

“I think the overall event has grown from year to year,” says organizer Craig Wiley, the executive director of Baltimore’s gay community center. “Every year there are new vendors and more vendors. Banks are getting involved, bigger corporations are noticing and throwing their hats in. It’s great. It helps us with support and gives people more access to people who are trying to do business with them.”

Baltimore Pride is divided into two days, each with its own inimitable character. Saturday features the Pride parade, and immediately after is the Baltimore Pride Block Party, held in the city’s gay Mount Vernon neighborhood, which Wiley describes as an “open-air nightclub.” Streets are closed, entertainment is set up (this year features “Gay Pimp” and “Big Gay Sketch Show” actor Johnny McGovern) and people pour into the streets from the parade route, partying long into the night.

SUNDAY IS THE OFFICIAL Pride festival in Druid Hill Park, which is more family friendly, features more vendors and a drag stage. Local lesbian musician darling Mara Levi and gay acoustic musician Eric Himan will be part of the festival’s entertainment set.

“A few years ago I started playing Baltimore Pride,” Himan says. “I got asked back every year. It’s one of the Prides I get to play at every year and look forward to. I’ve watched how it’s grown, and different people have been there to watch how I’ve grown.”

Himan says others have accurately described his music as a cross between Melissa Etheridge and Maroon 5. For Baltimore Pride, he will be playing a high-energy set that mixes his own songs with covers of other musicians’ work, blending in perfectly with the easy-going, fun tone of the day.

In comparison to the bacchanalia of Saturday’s block party, Wiley describes Sunday as a more “relaxed, family setting.” Whether or not a Pride attendee comes with family, Wiley feels that the event’s smaller scale, in comparison to some other Pride celebrations, is part of what makes Baltimore Pride appealing.

“It’s much more like a family event,” he says. “A lot of people know each other. You might see them at Pride and no other time of year, but every year at Pride you see the same folks and people catch up and celebrate and have a great weekend.”