Atlanta Pride featured both indoor and outdoor marketplaces at the
Civic Center. This year’s Pride Parade followed a reverse route from
near Piedmont Park to the Civic Center, but was once again plagued by
rain. (Photos by Sher Pruitt)
Atlanta Pride perseveres despite rain, changes Attendance figures unavailable for Civic Center festival, but expected to be down
Having
made
the
rarest
of
appearances
in
Georgia
over
the
past
two
years,
rain
—
torrential
rain
—
began
to
fall
just
before
the
start
of
the
Atlanta
Pride
Parade
on
July
6.
“I’ve
said
before,
if
you
want
an
end
in
[Georgia’s
historic]
drought,
have
Atlanta
Pride
do
a
parade,
because
it
almost
always
rains,”
said
Donna
Narducci,
executive
director
of
the
Atlanta
Pride
Committee.
About
an
hour
before
the
parade’s
1
p.m.
kick-off,
the
Midtown
sky
darkened
and
bursts
of
thunder
signaled
the
approaching
storm.
Raindrops
began
to
fall
at
about
12:35
p.m.,
and
soon
after,
all
of
Midtown
was
blanketed
with
sheets
of
heavy
rain.
But
the
uncooperative
weather
couldn’t
wash
out
the
Pride
parade,
or
scare
away
the
thousands
of
people
who
lined
Peachtree
and
other
Midtown
streets
to
watch
the
annual
march.
“The
minute
the
parade
stepped
off,
the
sky
opened
up
with
thunder
and
lightening,
and
it
rained
the
entire
parade
—
for
about
two
hours
—
and
it
didn’t
seem
to
matter
to
the
parade
marchers
or
the
people
watching,”
Narducci
said.
“It
shows
the
perseverance
of
our
community,
and
how
important
it
is
for
us
to
have
this
opportunity
to
have
a
parade.”
Ravi
Batra
thought
the
rain
“sucked,”
but
it
wasn’t
enough
to
make
him
leave
his
parade-watching
post
on
7th
and
Peachtree
in
front
of
the
Vortex
restaurant.
“The
Pride
parade
was
still
amazing
in
the
rain,”
said
Batra,
19,
who
lives
in
Atlanta.
“I
had
a
great
time.
I
enjoy
taking
pictures
of
the
parade
and
seeing
them
years
later.”
Scott
Turner
Schofield,
a
transgender
theater
performer
who
served
as
one
of
the
grand
marshals
for
this
year’s
parade,
joked
after
the
parade
that
Gay
Pride
had
benefited
the
entire
state.
“I’m
thinking
of
sending
a
letter
to
Georgia,”
Schofield
said
from
the
Coca-Cola
stage.
“We
heard
there
was
a
drought,
so
we
had
a
parade.
Love,
the
gays.”
CHANGES
IMPACT
ATTENDANCE
Like
the
parade,
much
of
this
year’s
Atlanta
Pride
Festival
was
a
case
of
persevering
through
adverse
conditions.
Forced
to
move
the
festival
from
Piedmont
Park
to
the
Atlanta
Civic
Center
—
after
city
officials
banned
all
large
festivals
from
the
park
due
to
the
drought
—
and
bump
the
typical
June
date
back
to
the
4th
of
July
weekend,
Atlanta
Pride
organizers
and
many
others
were
anxious
to
see
how
people
would
react
to
the
new
venue.
Ellen
Bosey
has
been
to
dozens
of
Atlanta
Pride
festivals,
but
felt
a
special
obligation
to
attend
this
year’s
event
because
she
feared
the
numbers
would
be
down.
“I
think
it’s
great
the
city
compensated
to
have
it
somewhere
and
still
embraced
it,”
Bosey,
55,
said.
Attendance
and
budget
estimates
were
unavailable
at
press
time,
but
Narducci
said
early
signs
point
to
a
drop
in
people
and
revenue
at
Atlanta
Pride
2008.
“I’m
not
sure
we
had
the
numbers
we
usually
see,”
Narducci
said,
noting
drops
in
merchandise
and
beer
sales,
as
well
as
on-location
donations.
“With
those
three
items
being
down
from
years’
past,
that
indicates
there
were
fewer
people.”
Attending
his
third
Atlanta
Pride,
Joseph
Urbina
also
said
he
believed
there
were
noticeably
less
people
than
at
previous
Prides.
“It’s
a
lot
of
fun,
[but]
seems
like
it’s
changing
so
much,
not
as
much
people,”
said
Urbina,
23.
“[It]
really
has
changed
people
coming.
People
like
the
park
better,
[but]
folks
should
come
out
and
support
each
other.”
The
crowds
at
Pride
were
“definitely
much
smaller,”
and
gave
the
event
a
“different
vibe,”
said
East
Point
resident
Ben
Sloat.
“It
almost
seems
like
it’s
not
Pride
in
Atlanta,”
said
Sloat,
39.
“It
seems
like
it’s
in
another
town.”
The
“Friday
Night
Divas”
concert
offered
an
ominous
sign
about
how
some
of
this
year’s
changes
would
go
over
with
Atlanta
Pride
attendees.
The
event
was
supposed
to
be
a
fundraiser
to
help
the
Pride
Committee
cover
the
increased
cost
of
hosting
Pride
at
the
Civic
Center,
but
not
many
people
were
willing
to
pay
to
see
performers
like
’80s
girl
group
Exposé,
Cece
Peniston,
Thelma
Houston
and
Frenchie
Davis.
Just
to
get
people
through
the
door,
tickets
that
originally
sold
for
an
average
of
$25
were
discounted
in
the
days
leading
up
to
the
event,
and,
ultimately,
they
were
handed
out
free
to
all
takers
outside
the
Civic
Center
before
and
during
...
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But
the
uncooperative
weather
couldn’t
wash
out
the
Pride
parade,
or
scare
away
the
thousands
of
people
who
lined
Peachtree
and
other
Midtown
streets
to
watch
the
annual
march.
