That same year, Music Midtown drew an estimated 50,000 and, unlike Pride, is a gated and ticketed event.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the 49th annual Atlanta Pride weekend attracted approximately 300,000 attendees. But these events are not apples-to-apples comparisons. Some upset Pride attendees took to Facebook to ask why other large Piedmont Park events, such as the Atlanta Jazz Festival (September 5 and 6) and Music Midtown (September 18 and 19), are still scheduled to move forward. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that organizations have to learn to adapt.” If we realize a few weeks down the line that physical events can’t work, we will be able to return to all-virtual programming. Everyone wants to return to live events, but the safety of our patrons, staff, and volunteers is the top priority. In-theater events will be distanced, and vaccinations will be required of all our attendees. In an email to Atlanta magazine Thursday, Farmer wrote: “Based on a few in-person film screenings that we have been part of, we decided to host a hybrid festival this year with a limited schedule in our venues virtual event. The week-long film festival has for years served as the city’s annual opening act for Pride each fall. The hybrid plan will combine in-person screenings at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and Out Front Theatre with virtual events. But will any other demographic be as vaxed as the LGBTQ community?”Īlmost simultaneously on Wednesday, Out on Film festival director Jim Farmer unveiled the LGBTQ+’s film festival’s 34th annual film lineup, scheduled for September 23 to October 3.
I am sure there will be an abundance of events that weekend. At this point, YOU and your RIDICULOUS conspiracies are the reason the world can’t move forward.”īelow the Atlanta Pride announcement, longtime LGBTQ+ photographer Russell Bowen-Youngblood posted, “I am torn on this decision. If you haven’t been vaccinated get the off my page. Sharing the announcement on Facebook, Atlanta drag performer Phoenix, who spends months each year helping to coordinate Pride’s popular Starlight Cabaret drag show in Piedmont Park posted, “Beyond Furious. After these consultations a review of public health data and confirming the City of Atlanta’s moratorium on issuing Class A permits, the organization made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Atlanta Pride Festival and Parade.” Carlos Del Rio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaders of local hospital systems, and other public health officials. Eliot Blum, as well as renowned and internationally respected public health expert Dr. In a written statement posted on the Atlanta Pride website, the committee added: “The Board of Directors along with the Executive Director, Jamie Fergerson, consulted with Atlanta Pride Medical Directors, Dr. With our sold-out marketplace, parade, and VIP tent, along with our general attendees, we know that our attendance would be higher than that number.” According to Fergerson, the Atlanta Pride Committee filed its permit applications back in March, but due to the traditional size of the festival, it falls under the city’s current moratorium. With Covid cases increasing ten-fold in Georgia since July 1, along with the overwhelm of our local hospital systems, the city of Atlanta has also maintained its moratorium on events of over 50,000 people. In a video posted on Atlanta Pride Committee’s Facebook page, executive director Jamie Fergerson said, “Though we’ve been working all year to plan a safe, in-person celebration, and as much as we want to get together, we know that with the delta surge, gathering together right now is just not safe for the community we love. Reaction was swift on Wednesday as the Atlanta Pride Committee took to social media to announce, due to spiking Covid-19 rates as the delta variant continues running rampant through the state, it would cancel its large in-person events scheduled for October 9 and 10, including the festival in Piedmont Park and its popular parade, for the second year in a row. Photograph courtesy of Atlanta Pride Committee
A float from a previous Atlanta Pride parade