The Sacramento Pride Festival, an annual event that brings thousands of attendees from throughout California, will be held for the first time on Capitol Mall in 2010, Bill Otton, interim director of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center, announced this week. The Pride Festival and Parade will be held Saturday, June 19.

Established in 1984, the day-long lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride festival has been held at Sacramento’s Southside Park for the past several years. Otton said the move to the Capitol Mall site will generate renewed excitement for an event that dates back to the early years of the gay civil rights movement in Sacramento and help bring attention to the role of the gay community in Sacramento civic life.

“We’re thrilled to be holding Sacramento Pride at Capitol Mall in 2010,” Otton said. “We’re focusing on Sacramento Pride as California’s Capital Pride celebration this year. With a view of the Capitol dome on one side and the historic Tower Bridge over the Sacramento River on the other, the Mall’s location helps us make that point in a tangible, visual way.”

Sacramento Pride is produced by the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center (http://www.saccenter.org) and is the largest source of funding for Center programs, which include services for at-risk youth, a free legal clinic, HIV/AIDS support services, transgender support services and numerous discussion groups and other activities for LGBT adults.

Otton also announced that the Center has contracted with Fred Palmer and Outword Magazine (http://www.outwordmagazine.com) as the sales and marketing agent for corporate sponsorships for both the Center and Sacramento Pride.

Sacramento Pride has launched an expanded marketing and outreach effort for 2010 in an attempt to boost attendance and corporate sponsorships that includes a new logo and website (http://www.sacramentopride.org) designed by graphic design firm Uptown Studios.

Major corporate sponsors of Sacramento Pride and the Center include Wells Fargo, Rainbow Chamber of Commerce of Sacramento, The Hewlett Packard Company, Outword Magazine and Uptown Studios.
 

The 2010 Sacramento Pride Committee, Chaired by business owner Josh Jacoby, has worked closely with city officials to develop logistical plans for festival infrastructure and security. Jacoby is founder and owner of two Roseville-based businesses, TechMarketing Autopilot and InnovaCrew Technology Services.

City Councilmember Ray Tretheway, who represents Downtown Sacramento, said holding the festival at Capitol Mall supports the city’s goal of bringing people and vitality to the downtown area.

“Sacramento’s LGBT community is essential to making this city a great place to live, work and play,” said Councilmember Tretheway. “The State Capitol and Tower Bridge will be the perfect backdrop as thousands of people from throughout the state and nation gather to celebrate our capital’s annual pride festival.”

Jacoby said the Pride Committee expects to increase festival attendance, which has approached 10,000 in previous years, as well as the number of festival exhibitors, which exceeded 220 booths in 2009.

“Our beautiful Capitol is an attraction to people from all over the state,” Jacoby said. “LGBT Californians are very proud of our state and its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Celebrating Sacramento Pride in the shadow of the Capitol reflects our community’s pride in being citizens of this great state.”

For more information about Sacramento Pride, visit http://www.sacramentopride.org or call 916-442-0185, Ext. 139.