I love the Twin Cities Pride Festival. It is the one time of the year when the entire GLBT community comes together to celebrate who we are. Every year it features entertainment stages, hundreds of exhibitors and vendors, food courts and one fabulous parade. I spent this year’s festival with some of my favorite people. We drank, danced, biked, laughed, screamed, celebrated and danced some more. Saturday night featured music in Loring Park, with performances by Expose, Tori Fixx, and Kat DeLuna. (Don’t worry, I didn’t recognize all of the names either!) You can watch the performers from inside the beer tent ($15 admission), or from any of the gardens’ surrounding areas (Free). At one point we were playing on the playground, which proved to be way more fun than fighting our way through the massive sea of people. There were so many people. This year an estimated 467,000 people came out to celebrate! Amazing! The end of the evening is announced with a small fireworks display. I had already left the park at this point, so I heard them, but didn’t see them.

The parade always seems to result in the burning of some section of my skin. Apparently 11 am is way too early to be thinking about sunscreen. I’m sure my bloody mary with breakfast had nothing to do with it! So I have a lovely tank top burn line to remind me of the fun I’ve had. The dykes on bikes have led the parade for as long as I’ve been attending. They are on motorcycles, and oh so sexy. Following them is a mix of churches, bars, businesses, organizations and another one of my favorites, the roller girls. The parade runs down Hennepin Avenue, and ends at Loring Park, where you can listen to more music, eat a variety of food, and check out some exhibits. The Saloon Bar has a block party on Sunday. It runs from 2pm-3am. Tiffany and Jody Watley were two of the performers this year. I also heard but did not see them as we made our way to the Gay 90’s for some end of pride dancing.

So if you’ve never been to the Pride festival, I highly recommend it. It’s a great time for everyone. Hope to see you next year!

emily