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LONG BEACH, Calif. () — Disappointment and frustration are growing over the cancellation of the Long Beach Pride Festival. The parade is still on for Sunday, but the three-day festival is canceled.
It ultimately came down to permitting issues, according to the city. Much of the setup was already complete by the time the announcement was made on Friday.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Long Beach Pride Festival canceled, parade will still go on
The city of Long Beach announced it has canceled this weekend’s Long Beach Pride Festival, though Sunday’s parade will still take place.
The Long Beach Pride Festival was supposed to kick off on Friday night, but instead, it was canceled at the last minute due to incomplete information to process permits for the festival, according to the city.
The city of Long Beach shared that they require detailed operational, construction and public safety plans to be permitted for events. The city says it did not receive that information from the Long Beach Pride team in time.
Despite this, the Long Beach Pride Parade, which the city funds and produces, is still happening on Sunday at 10 a.m.
In a statement, the city of Long Beach shared, in part:
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards. With event programming scheduled to begin today, May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
The Long Beach Pride team shared their own statement, writing, in part:
“This decision comes at a moment when LGBTQ+ people are facing escalating attacks from the current federal administration and from political forces across the country. At a time when our community is being targeted and made vulnerable, Long Beach should be doing more to protect and uplift us, not taking away one of the most visible and meaningful expressions of inclusion our city has.”
The city of Long Beach issued an additional statement on Saturday, adding that applications are usually due 65 days in advance, with the option for applicants to request expedited review within 14 days. The city claims that additional festival site plans were submitted for review around 7 p.m. on Friday, and the submission was not complete and did not include important information necessary to complete its safety and permitting review.
“As of this morning, May 16, the City still did not have approved stamped structural plans for the stage and trusses, approved electrical plans, detailed security plans with specific locations for security, and sufficient detail in the site plan on locations of critical infrastructure to safely grant the necessary event permits,” the city wrote. “Although the timeframe had passed to issue permits for the festival as it was originally envisioned by Long Beach Pride, the event organizer, the City continued working last night and this morning to identify possible alternative venue options so that Long Beach Pride could still host a meaningful community gathering this weekend.”
The city says it offered alternate solutions, including the use of the Long Beach Terrace Theater and plaza and the Bixby Park bandshell, but Long Beach Pride did not accept the options.
Long Beach Pride president Tonya Martin then shared a follow-up statement, writing that the cancellation is final.
“We truly believed we could find a path forward. For the past 24 to 40 hours, we worked in good faith, stayed at the table, and tried everything we could to reach a resolution with the City. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Martin said. “The Long Beach Pride Festival has been built by volunteers, sustained by love, and rooted in more than 40 years of visibility, safety, and belonging for our community. We are heartbroken, but we are not going anywhere. The full truth will come out, and we will continue to be transparent with our community.”
While the festival is canceled, many bars and restaurants in Long Beach are still celebrating with their own Pride-related events.
Vendors slated for Pride Festival pivot their plans
The LGBTQ+ community in Long Beach is rallying to celebrate Pride in new ways after the Pride Festival was abruptly canceled.
Eyewitness News talked to some vendors who were scheduled to be at the festival and who spent time and money preparing for the event, but are trying to make the best of the situation and pivot.
“A lot of vendors take probably close to six months to plan their events. They spend thousands of dollars in merchandise and promotional advertising and marketing to go out there,” said vendor David Keyes. “So it was a real hit and blow to a lot of small businesses and merchants out here in the community that got hit with that. So we’re hoping that the city and the Long Beach Pride committee can work together and figure it out.”
Keyes was one of the vendors who had to quickly pivot his event. Luckily, he was able to connect with a local bar on Broadway to host his event instead.
“We gave out about 500 merch pieces, and then now we’re out here on the strip where all these amazing businesses that were relying on travel and business from today’s festival, and the community really showed up,” said Chris Parker.
Parker also had to get creative as a vendor with lots of merchandise on hand – heading out to the crowds to get their brand out there.
While the festival was canceled, the LGBTQ+ community says coming together is what matters most.
“Everyone’s really pulling in, trying to pull rank. Like everyone has been saying, pride is not about a venue; it’s a community. And everyone is stepping up to make the best of what we can for pride this year,” Keyes said.
“It’s a testament to queer culture. We are resilient, and one thing about resilience in the queer world is you show up, and you show out. And we did just that,” Parker said.
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