Denver Pride expects more than 500,000 people, free festival moved from two days to one
It is June 1, which is the start of Pride Month.
Pride started in June 1969 from the Stonewall Riots when patrons of a gay bar in Greenwich Village fought back against a violent, discriminatory police raid. Now, Denver is one of several cities across the country with celebrations all month long, this year being the 52nd.
There are many changes with Denver Pride this year. The free celebrations will be moved from Civic Center Park to 16th Street. The Center on Colfax says the ongoing construction at Civic Center Park makes it impossible to host it there. Also, the Pride festivities will be celebrated for one day -- on June 28 -- instead of two full days.
During the celebrations, you can check out performances on the main stage and Latin stage. There will be a gayberhood, queer businesses and vendors, family zone and a sober zone. Pride gets more than 500,000 people every year and is the top five biggest in the country. The festivities go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 28.
Pride brings the Center on Colfax at least $2 million per year. 84% of the funds go to help with services including 12 mental health visits, support and even lifesaving care. Center on Colfax CEO Kim Salvaggio says Pride is too important.
"What I hear sometimes is why do we need Pride anymore," Salvaggio said. "Is Pride still something that our community needs? I will say when you are living in a country where half of the states you are not able to freely live there as yourself with the same freedoms and liberties as anyone who is not queer, that alone shows how important Pride is."
With only one day of the free festival this year, there will instead be celebrations all month long. This includes a book fair, queer hike, gala at the Brown Palace, dog drag show, dance party at Playhaus and much more. The full events can be found at denverpride.org.
The Center on Colfax says security and safety measures will be in place. They are working very closely with Denver police. Police will also help control the flow of foot traffic at 16th Street. The festivity will go on 16th Street from Arapahoe to Broadway.
The Center on Colfax says they are using a point-of-sales system in place of the ticket system. You can use it to purchase water and food directly. The Center says also with Pride being on 16th Street, the water stations will change. There will still be free water stations but attendees can now bring in their own water.
The parade will start at Cheesman Park and go down 17th Street because of construction on Colfax. The parade will start at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 28. The Center on Colfax recommends alleviating traffic by taking public transit, Veo scooters, or rideshare.
The Center on Colfax says it takes an entire year to plan a Pride festival. They currently has 70 volunteers and say they receive up to 400. You can head to lgbtqcolorado.org if interested.
CBS Colorado will be marching in the parade so definitely stop by and say hello.
