St louis gay pride parade
PrideFest brings thousands to St. Louis to observe LGBTQ community, resiliency
Hundreds of families, children and friends waved pride flags, flapped colored fans and cheered for parade crews that drove through downtown St. Louis on Sunday to commemorate the finish of this year's PrideFest.
Pride St. Louis, the company behind the event, is celebrating its 45th year of recognizing the LGBTQ community. This milestone anniversary came with some changes to its festival’s model because of the decline of major funding due to federal pressures on corporations to drop their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Although the event confused its main sponsor — Anheuser-Busch — festivalgoers still came to participate in the parade and paid the newly introduced $10 entry fee. Some said they were worried about the turnout for the weekend festival but were happy that the group stepped in to encourage a necessary organization.
“This is something that's so essential to this community because we're just looked down upon to everyone else, especially with what's going on in the earth right now,” said Liam, who has attended eight Pride festivals in St. Louis.
Liam said the region is
St. Louis PrideFest ends 45-year free entry after corporate sponsors pull advocate
If you're planning to celebrate the LGBTQ community at downtown St. Louis’ PrideFest next month — it’ll now come with a price tag.
For the first time in the organization’s 45-year history, the annual festival will bill a $10 entry fee.
Organizers express the change follows major sponsors, including beer giant Anheuser-Busch, pulling or scaling back their long-standing support. The festival’s popular Pride march will remain free.
“We are taking a vital step to ensure that PrideFest, and the vital work Pride St. Louis does to support our people, can continue to thrive for another 45 years and beyond,” said Lgbtq+ fest St. Louis President Marty Zuniga. “By making PrideFest a ticketed event, we are building the foundation for a sustainable future.”
The deficit of more than $150,000 in sponsorships earlier this year triggered a citywide boycott of Anheuser-Busch, as well as a grassroots campaign to preserve the festival, parade and organization’s year-round programming. Then, just last week, the charity lost a major three-year financial backing deal with Smirnoff Vodka.
Zuniga said he understands
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