L.A. Pride Parade | L.A. Pride Festival | Festival 6/9/18 | Festival 6/10/18
LOS ANGELES, CA- A highlight of LA! Pride is its accompanying music festival. With top tier talent like Khelani and Tove Lo respectively headlining Saturday and Sunday’s music line-up, thousands waited in line to sing and dance along with the masses. On Saturday, however, many hopeful party-goers were turned away at the door.
At approximately 9pm, the music festival had hit its 40,000 capacity, and even those with tickets were not allowed to enter the festival grounds. West Hollywood’s sheriff’s department instructed those standing in line to leave, even announcing from loudspeakers above in a helicopter for the crowd to disperse.
While it was certainly an amazing feat for tickets to the music festival to sell out for the first time in LA! Pride’s history, it was a shame that thousands were turned away at the gates. The backlash on social media was expected, but many voiced their disappointment with the way in which ticket sales were handled, you have to give LA! Pride some credit for immediately addressing issue and offering either a refund or an exchange for a Sunday ticket.
But for those who arrived early and were able to enjoy all of the entertainment that was scheduled, it was a weekend filled with friends, music and love.
During the day, as I walked around the festival grounds, I’d see friends and lovers sitting in groups, people watching and laughing at shared stories over a cold beer. As an ally, I know what LA! Pride means to me. It means that my friends, all of my friends, should be able to live out loud and #JustBe 24/7 like everyone else was during this weekend. I decided to ask a few people what LA! Pride meant to them, and they all seemed to echo the same sentiment.
And at the end of the day, despite those who were upset that they couldn’t’ get into the festival grounds Saturday night, there was still the powerful shared sentiment that this was a weekend to celebrate and foster diversity through community. It was an opportunity to freely let your guard down and just surround yourself with people who just want to live and love how they please and #JustBe.
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L.A. Pride Parade | L.A. Pride Festival | Festival 6/9/18 | Festival 6/10/18
