2009 Capital Pride A TREMENDOUS Success
First Effort By Capital Pride Alliance Draws Over 250,000 to festival, 130+ parade contingents
Courtesy of Capital Pride Presenting Sponsor, The Washington Blade
June 15 — Capital Pride, with ambitious goals and plans for their first Capital Pride, was successful beyond expectations and projection. Ten days of cultural and community events, parties and the largest parade in DC history, culminated in the festival on Sunday, June 14 with over 250,000 attendees.
“We were thrilled to see every Capital Pride event was heavily attended,” said Dyana Mason, Executive Director.
“People were excited about the many diverse options they had this year,” said Mason. “Seeing the crowd of thousands from the stage Sunday afternoon and attendees this past week is what makes all the effort worth it, we should all be proud of the LGBT and allied community we have here in Washington, DC.”
On Saturday, DC’s most popular parade still held true to that title with over 130 contingents in this year’s parade bringing out thousands of spectators. Sunday’s pride festival brought out over 250,000 attendees on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The 250 vendors were visible from the entrance of the festival to the front of the main stage giving attendees plenty of fun, food, and opportunity to learn about many community organizations.
“The majority of our success is due to the commitment of our committee members, volunteers, the twenty Community Partners” said Michael Lutz, President of the Capital Pride Alliance. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Capital Pride would also not have been a success if it wasn’t for this year's sponsors. This year’s sponsors included: Allegro Apartments, Arena Stage, Bank of America, The Container Store, Curve Magazine, Department of Health, Doubletree Hotel, Food Lion, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Honest Tea, ID Lubricants, Latham & Watkins, LLP, The Madison Hotel, Metro Transit, Metro Weekly, Nellie’s Sports Bar, Nuwear, The O.R., Suntrust, Wachovia, Washington, Blade, Whitman-Walker Clinic, Whole Foods, Verizon Wireless, Yuengling.
A special thanks to Southwest Airlines who continues to be a returning supporter of Capital Pride and provide airline travel to DC for the entertainers & guests. Capital Pride’s media relations and coverage was the best the group has seen in years, thanks to the expertise of Renna Communications and their staff. “We are truly grateful to have sponsors and Community Partners that genuinely want to see Capital Pride succeed each year,” said Bernie Delia, Board Member.
The 2010 Capital Pride is scheduled for June 4-13, 2010. For those who are interested in getting involved next year can visit the official website at www.capitalpride.org.
—30—This year, Capital Pride is being produced for the first time by the Capital Pride Alliance, Inc., an independent organization whose sole purpose is to present the Pride celebration in the National Capital area. We thank Whitman-Walker Clinic for their many years of stewardship in guiding Capital Pride.
President Obama issued a Pride Proclamation on June 1 naming June 2009 as LGBT Pride Month!
