ABOVE: Sarasota Pride 2020 attendees. Photo by Dylan Todd.
SARASOTA | Sarasota Pride is scheduled to return Jan. 22 at J.D. Hamel Park from 12-5 p.m., the organization’s first celebration in nearly two years.
Sarasota Pride, Inc., its organizing nonprofit, has served the area’s LGBTQ community for more than three decades. Its 30th event was held Jan. 25, 2020 ahead of most COVID-19 cancellations and its forthcoming 31st was rescheduled from Oct. 2021 in response to the region’s last rise in cases.
“We hated to postpone, but our first priority is the safety and health of our Sarasota Pride attendees as well as our vendors, sponsors, performers, and volunteers,” Sarasota Pride President Cindy Barnes told Watermark at the time. “We felt that postponing the event for a few months was the best decision for all involved.”
While COVID-19 continues to impact all of Florida and beyond, Barnes is hopeful the organization’s Pride in the Park can move forward this year. She says that planning is nearly complete, even with fewer vendors and sponsors thus far.
“You just face this sort of thing when you try to hold an event during COVID,” Barnes explains. “I think it’s going to be hit or miss. We have definitely had less response this year than ever before. Everybody that signed up with us in October has not backed out, they’re still willing to come on, but the response has been really slow.”
Sarasota Pride experienced something similar ahead of its 2020 gathering, which Barnes attributes to the holiday season. As was the case then, she’s hopeful that January will bring with it more vendors and sponsors willing to show their support.
“We’ve already paid out everything to put the event on – so if we have to cancel this time, we’re just out of that money,” Barnes says. “The city let us reschedule before because we were having it within a year’s time, but if we cancel this time we’ll have lost what we gave them.”
Barnes adds that up to 5,000 people and more than 50 vendors attended Sarasota Pride 2020. In the time since, the organization has welcomed new board members who, like Pridegoers from throughout Florida, are eager to see Sarasota Pride make a comeback.
“We’ve been here 31 years and people get used to it, they know it’s supposed to happen,” she stresses. “I know a lot of people were disappointed in October when it didn’t, but we’re coming back during the first month of the new year. This was the only date in January that the city had available for J.D. Hamill Park, so we jumped on it – unfortunately we weren’t expecting another COVID variant.”
As of Jan. 4, at least 20 vendors are expected to participate this year. Sarasota Pride remains hopeful that number will at least double while promising an eclectic mix of activities and entertainment for its big day.
Pride in the Park will feature performances from Divine AF, the Indie Folk-Rock band billed as a multi-generational LGBTQ group of songwriters and storytellers, as well as the celebrated LGBTQ choir Diversity: The Voices of Sarasota. Barnes adds that area entertainer Lindsay Carlton-Cline will also emcee an hour’s worth of “the best drag Sarasota has to offer.”
Additionally, Project Pride will partner with the organization for the first time, sponsoring a Kids’ Zone during the celebration. The area will feature face painting and a 40-foot slide. The collaboration is “a perfect fit,” Barnes says.
To further combat COVID-19 amidst the Omicron variant, Sarasota Pride will ensure vendors are socially distanced. Hand sanitizer and face masks will be readily available for attendees, who can also enjoy local food trucks and more.
“We just want everybody to come out and have a fun day,” Barnes says. “We’re hoping to be able to go ahead and have enough participation to put this thing on. We have to think positive, that’s the only thing you can do in these days.”
Sarasota Pride’s Pride in the Park is scheduled for Jan. 22 from 12-5 p.m. at J.D. Hamel Park, located at 199 Bayfront Dr. in Sarasota. For sponsorship and vendor opportunities or for the latest information about the event, visit SarasotaPride.org.
