Despite a cold, near-constant drizzle, Seattle Pride organizers successfully brought the community together for in-person festivities on Saturday, Oct. 9.
Following its two-day virtual Pride month event, "Resilience," the group offered a hopeful disposition for the fall. In September, they announced "All Together Now" and its stellar four-hour line-up, almost exactly two weeks after Labor Day weekend presented a countywide COVID scare.
Luckily, Seattle Pride understood the assignment. Utilizing wide-open spaces at Volunteer Park and organizing an on-site vaccination clinic with UW Medicine, the masked, distanced, outdoor party offered an opportune moment for safe celebrations.
From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., people toured the dozens of vendor pop-ups along the edges of the lawn; they were consistently offered hand sanitizer and masks, along with other relevant merchandise. Visitors were encouraged to enter free raffles and spin wheels for larger prizes as well. Vendors ranged from PCC, which was handing out free organic bananas and coffee coupons, to T-Mobile, which brought a 360-degree video booth experience.
Food trucks lined the event entrance, including Dumpling Tzar, Monster Dogs, Full Tilt Ice Cream, and Mobile Mayan. Hot dog in hand, many guests zipped directly into the beer and alcohol garden, where proof of vaccination was required. Elysian Brewing, Mike's Hard Lemonade Seltzer, Ruben's Brews, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire, and Tito's Handmade Vodka made a pleasant mark on the scene for those who imbibed.
Beyond the material enjoyments offered at the event, Seattle-based DJ and producer Chong the Nomad headlined, along with DJ dark_wiley, Cassandra Lewis, BeautyBoiz, CarLarans, and others. KEXP's on-air host Marco Collins and drag queen Betty Wetter emceed the free concert. Trained ASL interpreters brought further accessibility to the performances.
In the meantime, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire sponsored Drag Queen Bingo, hosted by Aleksa Manila, with proceeds benefiting Seattle Pride. The games were enjoyed by all, even while 92.5's free green rain ponchos began to punctuate the crowd.
Song, reflection, laughter, and even some tears filled the crisp air as visitors reminisced on their pride. A three-walled white tent from Seattle Pride and radio station C89.5 heard it all: inside, a recording studio was made available for guests to participate in sharing coming out stories in recognition of National Coming Out Day, October 11th. Opportunities to share and engage with these testimonials are ongoing at https://www.c895.org/Pride/.
"These powerful, personal stories can inspire and create safe space for others in our community to live authentically," reads the statement. The project aims to generate empathy in others, cultivate new advocates, and inspire those who have not yet done so to come out.
Seattle Pride Executive Director Krystal Marx added, "Sharing your coming out story is incredibly important for our community, regardless of whether that experience was painful or humorous or something else altogether. We want our community to participate in sharing their coming out stories, because it allows other folks in our community to live authentically, creating a safer space for us all."
Lastly, Vote with Pride made a return at a booth of its own, where educational voting materials and campaign signs and stickers were available. The initiative has recently released a Seattle Pride Voter's Guide on its website as well (at https://www.seattlepride.org/web/app/templates/assets/image/2021-Seattle-Pride-Voters-Guide-INFO.pdf).
Sponsors of Seattle Pride's event included Alaska Airlines, T-Mobile, Facebook, Starbucks, KIRO 7, The Stranger, radio partners C89.5 FM, KNKX, and MOViN 92.5, and several other corporate backers.
Visit https://seattlepride.org/ to learn more about its Coming Out Stories campaign and future programs.