If you're a fan of Pride celebrations but prefer a more intimate, scaled-down event to one that packs in tens of thousands of attendees, Capital City Pride may be just the event for you. Just keep in mind that even this relatively smaller event in Washington's state capital, Olympia, has been getting bigger and more popular each year. More than 7,500 attend this two-day event, which takes place June 20 and June 21, 2009 - a full week before gay pride in nearby Seattle. Still, even as Capital City Pride develops a stronger following each year, it remains a friendly, low-keyed event that's especially well suited to families and draws a diverse bunch of all ages.
Book rooms and compare rates at hotels in Olympia during Gay Pride
The Capital City Pride Festival takes place both Saturday and Sunday, June 20 and 21, noon until 5, in Sylvester Park:
The Capital City Pride parade takes place on Sunday, June 21, at noon. It begins on the steps of the Washington State Capitol and it then proceeds north on Capitol Way, east on 4th Avenue, and south on Washington Street, ending at the Capital City Pride Festival in Sylvester Park. Here's a map of the parade route.
Of course, additionally, plenty of gay-popular restaurants, hotels, and shops will be extra busy during the weekend, and catering heavily to LGBT visitors. Check local gay papers, such as The Seattle Gay News, for details.
I chatted with Anthony Sermonti, one of the co-chairs of Capital City Pride in 2008, about the event differs from some others. Here are my questions and Anthony's answers:
About.com: How long as Capital City Pride been going on?
Anthony Sermonti: Olympia's Capital City Pride started as a grassroots-led rally and march in 1991. It's 18 years later this year, and the rally that once drew a few hundred is now approaching 8,000. Last year, our crowd counts put us at 7,500 people for the parade and festival. We've seen really tremendous growth and new and younger board leadership, particularly in the past three years. Both of the Pride Co-Chairs are under 30 this year.
About.com: Can you tell me a little about Olympia's gay community and LGBT scene? I've lived in a capital city (Santa Fe) that was not the largest city in the region, and it was an interesting experience - the community had a more political and activist nature, and was also less nightlife-oriented and more geared toward couples and more settled-down gay folks. Wondering if Olympia is somewhat this way, too.
Anthony Sermonti: Olympia is friendly. It's even been listed as one of the top-50 gay-friendliest places to live in the U.S. With The Evergreen State College in Olympia, one of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges, there's also a very hip, young scene along with the activist, political, and professional scene that's brought on by being the seat of state government. Olympia is very arts- and music-oriented and was named as one of the top college towns by Outdoor Magazine. So there's real diversity in Olympia, even within the gay community. In general, the gay community here is very welcoming and gives a lot of people from outside the area a break from the potential "drama" of big-city gay life. Wikipedia is a good site to get an idea of Olympia.
There is a GLBT nightlife scene consisting of two gay bars, and a number of gay-friendly bars. The community is rather broad, and inclusive of straight allies. There are a lot of straight families that attend or participate in Capital City Pride - that's one of the very unique things about Pride in Olympia - there's huge support from the straight community and local business owners.
About.com: Is there anything new in terms of the format or events concerning Pride this year - activities that might differ from previous years?
Anthony Sermonti: For 2008, we're bringing in national artists for our entertainment lineup: our headliner, Logo Top-40 Artist Brian Kent from New York City, as well as artists from up and down the West Coast.
Our parade is also larger this year, with more entries and a longer route from the State Capitol Building, through downtown Olympia and ending at Sylvester Park, where the festival happens.
We also have secured special Pride rates from our official hotel sponsor, which is right across the street from the festival and on the parade route.
About.com: What are some of the things somebody attending a smaller Pride event than, say, Seattle's or Vancouver's, might look forward to? I imagine it's a little easier to mingle and meet fellow attendees?
Anthony Sermonti: Our Pride is very community-oriented. It's about celebrating people and having fun. There's less of a corporate feel, things are much cheaper, and you get a real experience in terms of seeing a community for what it is and the opportunity to take over the downtown of a state capital city for a day to be a part of Pride.
Even though we are clearly smaller than Seattle of Vancouver, we are larger than all of the other Pride celebrations in Washington, and there is quite the party both Saturday, and on the festival day, Sunday.
It's something different - people have been going to huge Pride celebrations for a long time, and we are seeing that we're drawing a lot of people from around the region the last few years who want something different. They get that here.[end]
