Luke Montavon
Santa Fe Pride 2016.
Each year, Pride festivities take place across the country in June—also Pride Month—in the form of parties, parades, gatherings, you name it. But this year's celebration in Santa Fe is planned instead for the middle of September.
Why? Turns out the reason is fairly tame, all things considered.
" Last year, we held an open call to get feedback from the community regarding Pride 2017 [and] other than board members, only students from [Santa Fe University of Art and Design] showed up—an excellent point was raised," Santa Fe Pride/Human Rights Alliance President Richard Brethour-Bell tells SFR via email. " Many college students would love to attend Pride, but most of them aren't here during the summer, so we decided to move Pride to September 15 , 16 and 17."
Brethour-Bell adds that the extra time allowed the HRA to recruit more helpers and volunteers, saying, "June was just too soon for the nine people there."
This year's Pride events are slated to include a parade from the State Capitol to a DJ-led dance party on the Plaza on Friday September 15 at 6 pm, a festival-like party at Fort Marcy Park with vendor booths and appearances from former Miss Santa Fe Pride, Bella Gigante, Ru Paul's Drag Race contestant Latrice Royale, current Miss Santa Fe Pride, Coco Caliente, and more at 6 pm. Brethour-Bell says organizers chose Fort Marcy to make the party more open to attendees and attractive to potential vendors.
"There are a great deal of restrictions for having anything on the Plaza," he says. "If we're going to have booths, they can only be information booths, we can't sell anything, and the [vendors] who are already there stay there; we pay to be there, yet we still have to deal with the people who are already there."
So there you have it—more accessibility for all and, if history can be our guide, a pretty solid dance party.
For more information, visit santafepride.org.
