Annual LA Pride Festival this weekend in West Hollywood
Thousands are expected to converge on West Hollywood Park this weekend for the annual LA Pride festival, a celebration of the gay and lesbian community. The festival, which charges $20 admission, was to include performances tonight by singers Deborah Cox and Fantasia Barrino. Attendees had the option of watching performances on the main stage, listening to artists and panelists speak at a "community village" or dancing to music on San Vicente Boulevard. Crafts and playground games will be available at the Children’s Garden, while an adults-only "Erotic City" will host an outdoor dungeon and erotic art show. On Sunday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are scheduled to speak at a 10:30 a.m. news conference at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights boulevards to address healthcare issues and the gay-marriage controversy. A parade on Santa Monica Boulevard begins at 11 a.m. San Vicente will remain closed between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue through Monday at 7 a.m. Santa Monica between Fairfax Avenue and Doheny Drive will close at 6 a.m. Sunday and reopen at 5 p.m., as will Crescent Heights between Romaine Street and Fountain Avenue. This weekend’s celebration commemorates the Stonewall riots, widely considered the birth of the gay rights movement, which occurred when police in 1969 raided a gay bar in New York City called the Stonewall Inn and patrons fought back. -- Rong-Gong Lin II
Oh yeah, Gavin Newsom, the "like it or not..." genius. Give us another zinger, Gav, we're counting on you.
Posted by: JD | June 13, 2009 at 11:24 PM