Jun 05, 2009  |  By: Amy Cavanaugh  | COMMENTS     

Capital Pride organizers expect that about 250,000 people will attend next weekend’s annual parade and street festival.

The theme of this year’s Capital Pride, the 34th annual event, is titled “Generations of Pride: Celebrate and Remember — Stonewall at 40.”



On June 13, the annual parade through Dupont and Logan circles steps off at 6:30 p.m. at 23rd and P streets, N.W. The parade will follow the same path as previous years, led by Celebrity Grand Marshall Valerie Harper of “Mary Tyler Moore Show” fame and several Capital Pride Heroes, including Frank Kameny and Lilli Vincenz.

There’s no cost to watch the parade from sidewalks, but Capital Pride is offering bleacher seat tickets for $35 at the announcing stand and $40 at the review stand.

The annual street festival will be held June 14 along Pennsylvania Avenue between Third and Seventh streets, N.W., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

RuPaul is the headliner on the main stage, and there will be a number of local and national performers, including Thomasina and the Jam, a newly formed lesbian alternative rock band headed by local performer Mara Levi, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh & Company, an Indian and modern dance group, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.

Capital Pride director Dyana Mason said there are two substantial changes to this year’s festival.

“One is a family section, which will be an enclosed area for parents and children,” she said. “We want to encourage families to come out and go to Pride with their kids. The other one is the Stonewall Stage by the beer garden where there will be dance music and drag performances.”

Mason said that Capital Pride will ask attendees to contribute $2 to $5 to help cover the cost of the event. An estimated 250,000 people are expected at this year’s festival; numbers for the parade could reach as high as 100,000.

Mason lauded the range of events Pride will offer running up to and during the weekend festivities.

“The thing we’re most proud of is that we have [about] 35 events scheduled over the week, and we’re working really closely with community partners and other organizers around the city to bring a good mix of events — from health fairs to parties to poetry slams and readings,” she said. “That’s one of the biggest changes from years past, and it really shows the community’s commitment to making Pride be so successful. It really is a Pride for everyone.”

This is the first year that Capital Pride Alliance will lead the event. In previous years, the Whitman-Walker Clinic ran the event, and last year, the Clinic was in the process of gradually turning over control to Capital Pride Alliance.

Mason said that there were “no unexpected bumps” in the transition process.

“Our board and committees by and large are comprised of individuals who have served on the planning committee for years in some cases,” she said. 

Final numbers of contingencies marching in the parade weren’t available this week, but Mason said more than 100 groups registered, and others were still seeking to be included. Last year, there were 125 contingencies, and Mason expects a similar number. She said that 200 to 300 vendors are expected at the street festival.

Among the community partners is Destination D.C., the local tourism board. Mason said the organization would conduct a survey at the festival to “help get some quantitative data” on the event’s economic impact.

Andy Whittaker, director of marketing for Destination D.C., said his organization would survey festival attendees to determine how many are local residents versus travelers, how much each person spends on lodging, food and drink and other information.

Whittaker said the D.C. mayor’s Office on GLBT Affairs requested the information be gathered, but the data also would inform Destination D.C. about the event’s economic impact.

“We want to see where people are coming from, how long they’re staying, and what events they’re attending,” Mason said. “We also want to get feedback on the events themselves, and see how we might be able to improve. I don’t believe we’ve done this before, and we should be able to get good data.”

Mason also noted that unlike some other cities, the D.C. government has no immediate plans to charge higher fees this year for street closings, police overtime and ambulance services associated with the city’s Pride parade and festival.

“Everything we’ve heard is that this year’s Pride should be no different from any other year’s,” Mason said. “We don’t anticipate any surprises, and we’re sticking to the budget we created and seems to be ...