40th Annual Silicon Valley Pride to Hit the Streets
Silicon Valley Pride is taking its 40th celebration to the streets of San Jose.
The Pride event, themed "Looking Forward from 40," is entering its fifth decade with a whole new street fair and parade on a new date - Sunday, August 30.
"We are psyched to show the community something new and something very, very different this year," said Thaddeus Campbell, board president and chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Pride. "We are really excited about the festival. We are genuinely excited about the parade."
This year marks many firsts for Silicon Valley Pride.
This is the first time in seven years that South Bay Pride goers will enjoy a parade prior to the festival.
It's also the first time that the festival will take over San Jose streets with booths and stages, presenting live entertainment lining Almaden Boulevard between West San Fernando Street and Park Avenue.
Pridegoers will be dancing in the streets to Steve Grand ("All American Boy"); "Two Tons of Fun" Grammy Award-winning artist Jeanie Tracy; and international singer Debbie Holiday, all of who will grace the new Adobe stage.
The festival will also sell spirits along with its traditional beer and soda offerings, to partiers.
Campbell insists that the event will remain family-friendly, featuring a family garden area for parents and their kids, among other entertainment.
"We are a family-friendly event and, so therefore again, we want to make sure that we provide everybody the entertainment and also the refreshments [at the festival]," said Campbell.
To that end, organizers are working to find the right balance in terms of parade contingents and booths. Campbell said they would limit the parade to 60-70 contingents.
"We want the parade to be high energy and a reasonable size," he said in a text message. "We also want it to be under 1.5 hours. Short, sweet, high energy."
Campbell also said booth vendors would be limited to about 100.
"We want to strike the right balance in each category that would allow our vendors to be successful as well as provide enough variety for our customers, the festival attendees," he said.
Moving on to Sunnier Days
Board members of the Gay Pride Celebration Committee of San Jose are hoping for an increase of 1,000 people to the Pride parade and festival this year to add to last year's 3,000 attendees, wrote Silicon Valley Pride board member Andre Mathurin in an email.
Campbell hopes that strategic decisions, such as moving the festival date to when nearby San Jose State University and local community colleges are back in session, along with the parade and fair hoppers from the Italian Family Festa (August 29-30) happening nearby will boost attendance this year, he said.
Then there are the straight allies who have expressed increased interest in the Pride parade and celebration, Campbell pointed out.
"The outpouring and attention ... has been absolutely fabulous, which speaks very well to how diverse and accepting Silicon Valley is," said Campbell. "That has been really amazing.
"I think that we will see a lot of increase in attendance from," taking the parade out of Discovery Meadow and onto the streets, he added. "Then, of course, the parade. So, if people are attending the parade [they] will spill over into the festival."
The parade ends at the main entrance to the festival.
Increased attendance will hopefully translate into more ticket sales to help pay down the remaining debt from 2012 and 2013.
Mathurin confirmed Campbell's affirmation that the festival's new location didn't affect the cost of producing the $152,000 event. That budget is about an $8,000 increase over last year, mostly to pay entertainers. Producing the parade will run an additional $8,000. The total cost for the parade and festival is estimated to be $168,000.
Additionally, Campbell told the B.A.R. that the committee put a "sizable dent" in Silicon Valley Pride's debt from years past, but he wouldn't provide figures on the current debt being carried by the organization.
The Bay Area Reporter couldn't locate current IRS filings for the Gay Pride Celebration Committee of San Jose.
However, Mathurin confirmed that production of last year's festival didn't add to the organization's debt from previous years and this year's increase wasn't outrageous. He told the B.A.R. that the board was actively tackling the debt.
"Things are moving in a very positive direction, far more positive than a few years ago," said Campbell.
Organizers are accepting applications for festival booths and parade contingents. For more information, visit https://register.svpride.com/event/event.php?title=Event+Signup.
Silicon Valley Pride parade and festival takes place Sunday, August 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. along Almaden Boulevard between West San Fernando Street and Park Avenue. The parade begins at 10 a.m. at St. John Street and runs down Market Street to Park Avenue, directly into the festival, which opens at noon. Advance festival tickets are available online for $10; tickets at the gate are $15. For more information, visit www.svpride.com.