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New Capitol Hill Pride Festival moves closer to reality (now with rainbow lights)

Sometimes, the more audacious the plan, the more likely it is to work. Here are this plan’s elements:

  1. Celebrate Pride
  2. Work with a community just recently torn by a debate on how and where to celebrate Pride
  3. Propose shutting down Broadway for a summer Saturday
  4. Add a rainbow-colored light display up and down the street
  5. And do it with a barebones, grassroots organization and pretty much zero budget

The whole crazy thing moved one step closer to reality this week as the city has given its OK on #3 — as far as the city’s concerns with the event go, the Capitol Hill Pride Festival 2009 on Broadway, Sat. June 27th from 11am—4pm is a go. We told you about the planned festival last month before the Capitol Hill Community Council’s meeting to determine go/no-go on the effort. The community vote at that meeting approved moving ahead with planning.

Broadway in rainbow lights? | Image: Capitol Hill Community Council

Full disclosure: I currently chair the council and I was against early versions of council vice president Charlette LeFevre’s plan because of my concerns about community support. I was wrong — this thing just keeps moving forward. Of course not everybody supports it. But a lot of people do and, what matters most is that the people who do support it are doing the work to make it happen. Now it’s up to everybody to shape it. The committee formed to organize the event is meeting this Sunday, April 12th at Oddfellows at 7p. Here are details from an announcement LeFevre sent out:

The Capitol Hill Community Council announces the Capitol Hill Pride Festival 2009 on Broadway
Sat. June 27th, 11am—4pm

The Council Wed. April 8th just received permission from the City of Seattle’s Special Events to go forward with the festival in what is believed will become Capitol Hill’s largest annual event.

The format of the festival will be an all ages family fun festival celebrating diversity and community pride. The theme is “Family” and the festival will be open to everyone, LGBT, straight and anyone of any background.
Music, Singing, Entertainment, Fashion Shows Contests, Pet parade, and Face Painting are being planned.

The location will be two blocks directly on Broadway between Olive and Harrison  St. between Broadway Grill and Rite Aid. The festival time was scheduled early so as not to conflict with the historical Dyke March scheduled for later in the afternoon.

Expected Attendance is 2,000 minimum but the Arts and Events committee believe the attendance may reach 10,000.

The Council is developing the festival with the local LGBT organizations and businesses while keeping fiscally responsible. To date, twenty five businesses are supporting the festival and the Arts and Events Committee is working with youth groups to help schedule the festival. The features to be added with funds allowing are Jumbotron screens.

Another feature of the Pride festival for decoration is Broadway lights in the colors of the light spectrum up and down Broadway. These lights would start with the color blue on the North end of Broadway at Roy and “band” to red to Pike and stay up all year helping to uniting Broadway, Subtly identify Capitol Hill as the gay district of Seattle, provide additional lighting for safety and Attract visitors and shoppers to Capitol Hill.  The Arts and Events Committee believes this light project would have a high visual impact on a neighborhood not only from a pedestrian level but from an aerial view providing a high profile visual for Capitol Hill. The proposed set is by June 1st for the start of Pride month.

Interested organizations or person interested in helping the festival are encouraged to contact the Arts and Events Committee which is scheduling the festival.
The next meeting is
Sun. April 12, 7pm at
Oddfellows Café on 10th and Pike on Capitol Hill.

Further information will be posted on the  Community Council website at
http://www.capitolhillcommunitycouncil.org

Charlette LeFevre
Capitol Hill Community Council VP
Arts and Events Committee
[email protected], 206-523-6348

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marco
marco
14 years ago

The light idea sounds great and would help in identifying the neighborhood. It’ll be like christmas all year.

boxofbirds
boxofbirds
14 years ago

I thought the plan was to have another parade and festival on Sunday on the hill, which I thought was a bad idea. I mean, why have two parades when the whole community should be coming together in one parade. But this Saturday festival/block party thing sounds great.