Pride Festival
The good feelings just don’t stop

The Houston Pride Festival is back! Most cities’ Pride Parade have a festival as a basic component of their pride festivities. And so did Houston. But when the Pride Committee made the bold decision to move the parade to the evening, they decided to put the festival on hold in order to concentrate on making the nighttime parade the celebratory success that it’s become. (Indeed, there are now five other cities that have copied us and have nighttime pride parades, according to pride guru Jack Valinski.) So now, five years later, our dynamic Pride Committee decided it was time to bring back the Pride Festival, on the day after the parade–Sunday, June 24, at the Garden in the Heights.

The festival will have food, vendors, speakers, and music all day–and mostly be a place to continue the good feelings and make pride an ongoing celebration. Although many of the music headliners are still not set, some of the performers will be Sarah Pinsker, Suede, Dave West/ Marcus Hutcheson, the Front Alley Girls, and Christy Claxton.

Stepping into the daunting role of coordinator has been Pride Committee member Jeffrey Neaves. Although he’s only lived in Houston for three years, he says, "Before that, I lived in Atlanta, New York, and Amsterdam, so I’ve lived in cities that had established pride festivals."

Neaves has found pride festivals meaningful in his life for the seemingly simple role of being a place to "hang out."

"A lot of our culture–and here I’m speaking as a gay man–is based around nightclubs and sex," Neaves said, "and there’s not a lot of opportunity to meet with other members of the community."

Neaves told about meeting two men in their 80s at the Atlanta Pride Festival. "These obviously weren’t men who were going to go to bars or be at the softball games," he said. "They’ve shown me a lot about what having a long-term relationship is all about. The first Christmas card I send every year goes to them. It was a real learning experience for me to meet these two, and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity had it not been for the festival."

The Pride Festival will be Sunday, June 24, 1—7 p.m., Garden in the Heights, 3926 Feagan St. Tickets are $12 at the gate/$10 advance, and are available at Basic Brothers (1232 Westheimer), by mail from the Pride Committee of Houston, P.O. Box 66071, Houston, TX, 77266-6071, or at the Pride Committee website: www.pridehouston.org.