Pride Parade route changed
The Utah Pride Parade will be glittering and glamming up a different route in Salt Lake this summer. Instead of going along State Street and 200 East, the route will go west on 200 South to West Temple. The route changes are being made to accommodate more parade entries and attendees, and to help alleviate some of the initial rush the festival ticket booths have immediately after the parade, said Marina Gomberg, the director of development and marketing for the Utah Pride Center.
Because the event has grown so much in recent years, maintaining the same parade route became too difficult, Gomberg said. Too many people crowded the entry of the parade route and there was not enough space to prepare the floats, she said. The new route should open up more area for spectators and for the parade participants. Also, because the entire route is almost equal distance to the festival entry booths, this should help make the initial crowds descending on the festival after the parade much easier to handle, Gomberg said.
Other changes to the Utah Pride Festival include the addition of a family carnival on Saturday, changes to the activist march routes and one of the four stages will be devoted entirely to promoting cultural diversity, Gomberg said.
The routes for the three rallies: the dyke, the interfaith and the transgender marches, will be slightly modified to help distinguish between the three groups. The west stage during the festival will be dedicated to highlighting different international and cultural events throughout the entire festival. And more water stations will be added this year.
“Each year the festival gets bigger and we try to make changes that reflect the needs of the community,” Gomberg said. “For example, we added the International Stage because we saw what a diverse community we had attending the event and wanted to reflect that in the performances.”
In addition to an increase in the amount of people that attend the event, more and more families want to participate in festivities, which is why the family carnival was introduced.
“From 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday the entire festival will go PG,” Gomberg said. “Everything will be family-friendly and it’s a perfect time to bring children.”
The Utah Pride Center is still looking for volunteers for the entire weekend, Gomberg said.
“Volunteering is a terrific chance to meet new people and see a whole new side to the festival,” Gomberg said. “If you’ve never volunteered before, this year is a great time to start.”
Tickets to the festival can be purchased online or at different local businesses throughout the Wasatch Front and Park City. For more information about where to purchase tickets, how to volunteer and for all the up-to-date information, go to UtahPrideFestival.org.