I've never been to a pride event like this before. The crowd was estimated at about 275,000 and let me tell you there was something for everyone! The main festival was down at Civic Center Park and was filled with vendor booths of all different shapes and sizes. The political parties were there, food vendors, porn sites, art galleries, communication and technological companies, insurance companies, t-shirt vendors; Wyoming Equality had a booth to promote our Rendezvous camping trip and to give you an idea of the "eclecticness" of the group we had an animal shelter booth on one side of us and right across from them was a booth that was selling spanking paddles and had men and women ready to spank you should you so desire (seriously!)
There were three stage areas that had some sort of entertainment going at all times. I saw a Michael Jackson impersonator, drag queens, Vegas show girls, go-go boys, comedians, rappers, tons of dancers and DJ's. One of the areas just played dance music in case you wanted to shake your booty all day long.
There was no judging going on, no hateful looks, just people having fun and celebrating diversity. For me the whole experience was incredibly validating. To see that many people out supporting gay pride is a very humbling experience.
Wyoming Equality had a float in the parade Sunday Morning. We arrived at 7am and put everything together. We blew up balloons, decked out a four-wheeler and trailer with rainbow flags and garland, hung banners, and turned Joe's truck into a rainbow piece of deliciousness worthy of gay pride. We then walked the parade route and handed out 3,000 flyer's promoting Rendezvous.
I stayed with my friends Dan and Josh (thank you so much guys!!) and we tried to take in as much as we possibly could over the weekend. We started with sushi on Colfax Friday night (who knew you could find some of the best sushi ever on Colfax Ave?) and we partied and celebrated all the way through Sunday night.
I met so many great people! I don't think I will ever miss Pride in Denver again. If you've never been to something like this you need to go and experience it at least once. The beauty, the pageantry, the music, and especially the people watching are definitely worth the trip!
Jeran
Love it! I haven't been to Pride in Denver since the end of the 90's.
ReplyDeleteYou have to let me know when you're headed down next year Jeran! I'll definitely go with you :)
My daughter went with five of her friends. They had a blast. They want info on Rendezvous. I'll send them to the web site.
ReplyDeleteJosh said...
ReplyDeleteHad a great time with you this weekend. I've been to pride in several states and the Denver experience is like no other. Every year I get the feeling of overwhelming PRIDE to be a part of such a fun, diverse, loving, open, amazing crowd.
(BTW - how many times did you go to the Spanking Paddle vendor? I lost count after about the first 5 or so!) ;-)
Colfax is awesome. We've lived within 3 blocks of it for 18 of the 20 years I've been down here. :-)
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