What's new at this year's San Diego Pride festival
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No rain at this San Diego Pride parade. Photo: Alvaro Diaz/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
About 250,000 people are coming to party in Hillcrest this weekend for the 52nd San Diego Pride Festival.
Why it matters: The event celebrating the local LGBTQ community has a few new additions this year, plus the return of old favorites.
Catch up quick: While most cities celebrate Pride in June, San Diego moved its festival to July for warmer weather.
- It once rained in 1990 and no one wants that.
Friction point: Last year's Pride came with a huge dose of controversy over headlining singer Kehlani and what many saw as their past antisemetic remarks.
- The backlash didn't change the way this year's headliners, Krewella and MARINA, were picked, San Diego Pride spokesperson Joslyn Hatfield told Axios.
Here's what to know about Pride this year:
🎪 Upgraded VIP area: There's a new elevated space with better sightlines to the main stage.
🛍️ Queer Locals Marketplace: This is the second year for a market where queer local artisans and small business owners can sell things like jewelry, candles, screen printing, and even life coaching or financial services.
🚧 Construction: A years-long project on the south side of University Avenue won't impact the parade route or views from the crowd, but instead will shift the party from the north side of the street to the south side, Hatfield said.
- The hope is that next year Pride Promenade will be open for the parade.
- That's a $28 million project that will make Normal Street a pedestrian-friendly promenade around the Pride Flag.
🏳️🌈 Other events: There's also the regular schedule of Pride events.
On Friday, the Spirit of Stonewall Rally commemorates New York's Stonewall riots and kicks off the weekend.
- The keynote speaker is Hailie Sahar from the TV show "Pose."
Saturday:
🏃 Pride 5K at 8am
🏳️🌈 Parade at 10am
🧑🎤 Festival begins at noon and continues through Sunday
State of play: Several local leaders are LGBTQ, which makes Pride a bit of a political event as well.
- "San Diego is a place where everyone should feel welcome, valued and free to be themselves," Mayor Todd Gloria told Axios.
The parade with the "unabashed pride and joy on faces" is the best part, said State Assemblyman Chris Ward.
- "That size and power of the collective voice reminds us that we are never alone, and are well supported during this difficult civic time," he told Axios.