Utah Pride Festival


The Utah Pride Festival is a festival held in downtown Salt Lake City in June celebrating Utah's diversity and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. The event is a program of the Utah Pride Center, and includes the state's second-largest parade, after the Days of '47 Parade.

Festivities

The festival includes the parade, a film festival, the Dyke March, members of the Bear Clan, Leathermen, and the Sisters of bondage subcultures, an interfaith service by the Utah Pride Interfaith Coalition, 5K charity run, and related parties and receptions.
Participation in the festival cuts across a broad spectrum of Utahns. Past speakers during the celebration have ranged from Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who was quoted in support of same sex marriage, to Utah Rep. Jackie Biskupski, the state's first openly lesbian legislator.
The festival's last day begins with the parade. Participants have included Mayor Ralph Becker, County Mayor Ben McAdams, a group of uniformed Boy Scouts, the largest group - Mormons Building Bridges, Mormons for Equality, the Provo Pride Council, Westminster College, and Weber State University. Over 140 organizations, sponsors, and religious groups participate. A large rainbow flag fills the street at the back of the parade.

History

The festival began in 1977 when the Salt Lake Coalition for Human Rights sponsored a three-day conference. was founded during this conference, on June 11. The 1978 keynote speakers were David Kopay, the first NFL player to come out of the closet, and U.S. Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, an ex-Mormon who was the first openly gay person to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
Utah Pride Inc. was created in 1989 through 2004 as a project of the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah. The project was renamed Pride of Utah in 2006.
The first Pride parade in the state was held June 27, 1990 at the state capitol building. It began on the steps of the capitol, went down Main street, and ended on South Temple at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. It included a procession of 270. In 1991, the Utah Stonewall Center opened and Pride festivities moved to the Salt Lake County Fairgrounds in Murray, Utah. The parade attracted twice as many participants along with opposition by members of the Aryan Nation. The Pride Day Art Expo and Competition was created to award local artists with its Lesbian and Gay Pride Art Award and the Mapplethorpe Award.
In 1997, a football-field long pride flag was made to carry down the parade route. It was produced by Rev. Bruce Barton of the Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake City, UT along with a dozen helpers whom called it, a "tremendous symbol of pride and unity".  Completed the day of the parade, it was composed of 35 bolts of lightweight fabric in 6 colors, and took more than 80 hours to sew this 300 foot long flag.  Over 100 marchers would hold the sides; people often threw donations onto the flag and children would run around underneath. The first flag bearers were the Utah Gay and Lesbian Youth group and all others that did not belong to a community organization. They took it from the Utah State Capitol Building, down State Street, past the LDS Church Office Building and onto the Salt Lake City and County Building.  In 2012, the original flag had seen better days and a new one from Colonial Flag was purchased for $5,000.  It is 30x200 feet and made of nylon, with hand holds every 18".  Also, UPC gifted Moab Pride their own 100' flag.
In 2004, an estimated 50,000 people attended, the largest since the festival began. However, in 2005, the first year in which an admission was charged, attendance at the festival was 15,000 to 20,000. Some have attributed this decline to patrons not wanting to pay for admission to the festival. Festival organizers argued that it was the first year in which an accurate method of counting the attendance was employed and that the numbers did not reflect a drop in attendance.
In 2011 the first local pride festival was held in Moab, UT.
The 2012 festival included performers Frenchie Davis and Prince Poppycock
In 2013, pride spread to Provo, UT with their first pride.
In 2014, Mayor Ralph Becker threw a private wedding reception for couples whose marriages he performed on the first day that same-sex marriage became legal in Utah.
Pride reached Ogden, UT in 2015 when they held their first pride festival.
2016 was the first year panel discussions were held during the festival, inside the Salt Lake City Public Library.
2020 will see the event move to late September brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.


YearDatesFestival nameThemeGrand MarshalEstimated attendanceLocation
May 1974Beer Bust Kegger
1975June 1Gay Freedom Day
1976Memorial Day Kegger
1977June 10 – 12Human Rights400-
1978JunePride DayLeonard Matlovich, David Kopay
1983Day in the ParkBasket SocialFairmont Park, SLC UT
1984June 24Day in the ParkWe Are What We Are1300-1700Fairmont Park, SLC UT
1985Day in the ParkSunnyside Park, SLC UT
1986July 13Day in the Park200Pioneer Park, SLC UT
1987July 12Day in the Park300-400Sunnyside Park, SLC UT
1988July 17Day in the Park1200Sunnyside Park, SLC UT
1989July 30Day in the ParkA Generation of PrideSalt Lake City Councilman Tom Gottfried1300Sunnyside Park, SLC UT
1990Pride DayLook to the FutureDr. Kristen RiesSunnyside Park, SLC UT
1991June 14–27Pride WeekTogether in PrideDell RichardsSalt Lake County Fair Grounds
1992June 15–23Pride WeekPride=PowerDanny WilliamsSalt Lake County Fair Grounds
1993Walter LarabeeSalt Lake County Fair Grounds
1994June 12Pride DayStonewall: Twenty-five Years Remembered, Twenty-five Years of ProgressBen Williams4000Northwest Recreation and Community Center, SLC UT)
19955000The Gallivan Center, SLC UT)
1996June 9Pride DayPride... Without BordersChaz Bono
1997June 8Utah Pride DayEquality Through VisibilityCandace Gingrich
1998June 14Utah Pride DayUnity Through DiversityCharlene Orchard and Debra Burrington
1999June 13Utah Pride DayPrideful Past/Powerful FutureDan Marshalls with local grand marshals Gary and Millie Watts
2000MayUtah Pride DayA New Era of PrideRep Jackie Biskupski
2001June 7 – 10Utah PrideEmbracing DiversityMayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson
2002June 9Utah Pride DayUnity in the Community- Change From WithinAlicia Suazo
2003Be Yourself Out Loud-
2004June 11 – 13Utah PrideCome Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!Bruce Bastian50,000
2005June 8 – 12Utah PrideEqual Rights. No More. No Less.15,000 - 20,000
2006June 1 – 4Utah Pride WeekPride, Not PrejudiceBoyer Jarvis, Ph.D20,000
2007June 1 – 3Utah Pride DaysUnited for EqualityJohn Amaechi
2008June 6 – 8Utah PrideCome TogetherRalph Becker
2009June 5 – 7Utah Pride FestivalPride. Voice. Action.Cleve Jones20,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2010June 4 – 6Utah Pride FestivalOur History, Our FutureSister Dottie S. Dixon25,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2011June 3 – 5Utah Pride FestivalLive. Love. Pride.Roseanne Barr28,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2012June 1 – 3Utah Pride FestivalChanging Hearts and LivesDustin Lance Black33,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2013May 30 – June 2Utah Pride FestivalGotta Be Real-EqualityDavid Testo35,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2014June 5 – 8Utah Pride FestivalLove Equals LoveThe Three Couples from Utah's Marriage Equality Case: Laurie Wood and Kody Partridge, Moudi Sbeity and Derek Kitchen, Kate Call and Karen Archer57,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2015June 4 – 7Utah Pride FestivalPride Is...Janet Mock65,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2016June 3 – 5Utah Pride Festival#WeArePridePride Icon Award Recipients: Jimmy Lee and Connell O'Donovan100,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2017June 2 – 4Utah Pride FestivalPride Elevated50,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2018June 2 – 3Utah Pride FestivalGet Salty100,000Salt Lake City-County Building
2019May 31-June 2Utah Pride FestivalExist. Resist. Persist: Celebrating 50 Years of Stonewall.35,000Salt Lake City-County Building