Gay Pridefest 2009

Pride Corner June 2008 

Welcome to June!  At the end of this month is the Pride Festival.  I hear that everyone is waiting for a party, and a party is what everyone is going to get, starting on Friday when we begin setting up the park and all the vendors start setting up their booths.

We all like to eat, right?  Well a huge thank you goes out to the vendors that will feed us while we enjoy Pride Festival 2008.  We would also like to thank all of the volunteers that will help to put on a successful festival.

We all know and love our home town performers and this year we have some fantastic local entertainers.  We even have a star or two coming from out of town.

Do you want to know more?  Come to Washington Square Park on Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, 29th, enjoy good food and entertainment and hear great music from any place within the park, and even on the parade route.

Yes indeed, we have a “PARADE”.  The parade will roll from the park at Elysian Fields Ave. on June 28th at 4:30 pm and will be lead by Grand Marshall, Toby Lefort.  The parade will consist of a line of floats, buggies, cars, trucks and even some marchers.  People from the whole of our community will march, drive or ride in the parade this year.  The parade is just under two mile’s long and runs through the French Quarter, ending on the north Rampart Strip in front of Louis Armstrong Park, making it an easy parade to catch.  Be sure and catch the parade as it pulls off on Saturday at 4:30 PM.  I’m sure there will be photo ops at every turn.  During the parade, stop off at some of the bars along the route as they are expecting you and will be serving your favorite cocktails.

Now, Sunday is not the same show redone.  Oh but no, this year we have so many entertainers we needed to take up the weekend.  As you know Pridefest has changed a lot from years ago, I have been to a lot of meetings and many pride festivals here and “good” says a lot.  Come see what I like to call SUPER FANTASTIC.

Dress comfortably because you may do a lot of walking, as there is a lot to see, eat and buy and only two days.

Speaking of things to buy, this year we have a Pride poster for the festival.  The poster has this year’s theme, “Fairies and Dykes” on it which is a play on words that describes our city and our community within the city.  There is a limited supply of the posters, so get yours early as they will go quickly.

Show your pride come out and have fun.  See you there... 

Pride Corner - March 18, 2008 

New Orleans Gay Pride is in full swing and the planning is going Great for Pridefest 2008 on June 28th and 29th!  On tap we have a slew of events scheduled that we're sure you'll all enjoy.

This past Saturday we hosted a party, "Pride Purple" at John-Paul's, and would like to thank the management and staff and all of you that were in attendence, making "Pride Purple" another great success.

"Pride Blue" is scheduled for Saturday April 5th at the Voodoo starting at 9pm and will include a 50/50 raffle, Drag Show, and more.

On Saturday April 12th, the Bouron Pub will host a "Pride Extravaganza" at 10pm with a Show hosted by Pat McCardle, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. There will be a $5.00 cover at the door and all proceeds benefit Pridefest 2008. Our $50. 50/50 raffle tickets will be available too.

The Alliance of Pride is running a $50.00 50/50 raffle wherein each ticket is a $50.00 donation for the chance to win $2500.00. We will run as many $2500.00 jackpot raffles as sales and time permit, however, each draw is limited to 100 tickets sold, meaning for each draw, each ticket has a 1 in 100 chance to win. Tickets will be available from any board member and at each event between now and Pridefest where the drawings will be held. You can also call and order tickets at (504) 400-7738.

Returning for two engagements, one in April and one in May, is the saucy Argentina comedianne Grace Fraga. We hosted a meet and greet with Grace at the Country Club last month and she'll be returning to play the front room at Cowpokes at 10pm on April 25th and May 23rd benefitting Pridefest 2008. Grace honed her South American sidesplitting humor doing stand-up comedy and appearing in live theater productions. Her tittillating tamale timing garnered her a Best Actress in a comedy nomination from the Marquee and Storer Boone Awards; winning a Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actress, in Dalt Wonk's comedy "Rio Seco", playing a Latina spitfire. Grace is scheduled to perform and emcee at Pridefest and has offered to do these two fund raisers for us in the meanwhile.

Following Grace, the Alliance of Pride will resume our theatrical production that has been a great success for us in the past. From "Murder at Movary Manor", "Street Theater", and "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" (for which Cammie West won a Big Easy Entertainment Award) we now bring you "Smoke" an original comedy by Steve Patrick. The play will run May 29th through June 15th. Auditions are open to the public and will take place April 21st and 22nd from 7 to 8:30pm in the annex at Cowpokes.For more information on auditions please call (504) 201-2855. Friday and Saturday performances will be at 8pm and Sunday's at 6pm, there will be a special S.I.N. performance Monday June 2nd at 8pm.

OZ will host the Mr. and Miss Gay Pride Pageant again this year on Wednesday June 18th at 10pm. The show will include performances by local talents and the competition for the titles of Mr. and Miss Gay Pride 2008, to include presentation, talent and formal Q and A. Each category is non-gender specific and is limited to the first five paid applications per title. Applications will be available by April 1st. For more information please call (504) 906-5654.

For information on float rental for the parade and booth rental for the festival, please visit our website at www.nolapridefest.org. And as always we'd like to Thank our Sponsors; Bud Light, Harrah's Casino New Orleans, McDonald's and Sir Speedy. For sponsorship information please cal (504) 906-5654. The New Orleans Alliance of Pride is a 501(c)3 corporation and all donations and sponsorships are tax deductable.

Other News

Press Release

Pride New Orleans will present an original play “Smoke” as a Pride fundraiser at The Marigny Theater during the last weekend of May and the first two weekends of June 2008.

Smoke is a fantasy that crosses all cultural, sexual, socioeconomic, race, religious, and gender boundaries.

Although the play is set within the ‘gay’ community, only the most intolerant homophobic will be offended by the content.

A spirit, who must wander the earth for 8 score and 2 years, is continuous through all of the play, guiding, explaining, and leaving us to laugh and think about whom, or what, we are and what we wish for ourselves and/or others.

The ACT I is about lasting love that cannot be realized.

The ACT II is about the wage one pays for transgressions in this life, and a different look at ‘after-life’.

The ACT III is a play about mix-ups, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then being in the right place at the right time to find love that can be realized.

Be prepared to leave reality, your deeply ingrained beliefs, and prejudices at the door.

Casting will be in April with rehearsals during May.  The play calls for: one female of indeterminate age: two males the same age; and another male 22-25.  The men at one time or another will appear on stage nude.  The nudity is not gratuitous but an intrinsic part of the plot line.

Warning: Due to the sensitive nature of the opening of the play, no one will be seated once the curtain is up.