San Francisco Pride – a celebration like no other

Hundreds of thousands of people will be heading to California for the 40th annual San Francisco Pride Celebration, June 26 and 27. The San Francisco Pride Celebration and Parade is the largest gathering of LGBT people and allies in the nation, with over 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors, and more than a dozen community-run stages and venues. And, one of the most amazing things is that the two day celebration is free.

The eye opening parade steps out at 10:30 am on Sunday at Market Street and Beale, and ends at Market Street and 8th Street in downtown San Francisco.
This year’s theme, “Forty and Fabulous” accurately describes this amazing event which is packed with a wide variety of exhibitors, artists, music of all kinds, performers, dance stages and venues, and fun. SF Pride is a great way to experience the amazing diversity of the LGBT community. There really is something here for everyone.

The Main Stage is the largest stage at the SF Pride event and is located in Civic Center next to City Hall. The stage is ASL-interpreted throughout Pride weekend.
On Pride Saturday, the Main Stage brings the best of local musical talent and cultural performances to the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza.
Then on Sunday the Main Stage offers exciting, up-and-coming cutting-edge talent, world-renowned performers, and the best of local entertainment from the Bay Area.
“The SF Pride Main Stage has been host to Lady Gaga,

BoA, Fey, The Cliks, Kat Deluna, Inaya Day, Crystal Waters, Me’shell Ndegeocello, leaders from the frontlines of the same-sex marriage fight, and many others,” say organizers.
Located close to the Main Stage the TRANS: THRIVE Pavilion is a meeting and gathering space for members and allies of the trans community. They welcome FTMs, MTFs, gender variant folks, allies and everyone in between. Visitors to the TRANS: THRIVE Pavilion will have access to resources and information about services for transgender people. Come mingle and learn about local trans resources in a space that is safe for all gender variant folks.
The Bearracuda Bear Garden is the heavy petting zoo for bears, cubs, otters and other wildlife at Pride. This event, June 27, is the West Coast’s largest attended bear night, with an emphasis on friendly, furry guys. Special guest DJs spin all day, so come on down for dancing, beard rubs and hugs.

Are you a leatherman or woman? Into a fetish or just want to check some out? Then Leather Alley located at located on Hyde Street between Golden Gate and McAllister is your place to be. This year the San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance is ditching the usual stage show for an all-out Leather Carnival. The event will include hands on demonstrations, vendors, and who knows what else will be in store to titillate the experienced and wow the curious.
Want a clean and sober place to celebrate? Then head to the Dan Cusick Clean and Sober Space. On Sunday, the Castro Country Club has the honor of providing a clean, sober, and safe space at this year’s Pride site. Located in the front plaza of Hastings Law School at 200 McAllister at Hyde, there will be a large space to sit and have a cup of coffee with pastry, and decompress from the crowd. There will be 12-step meetings nearby.

After all the celebrating on Saturday, you will find that the Faerie Village is an oasis of spirituality, art, music, and love, hosted by radical faeries. It is a commercial-free, chill-out zone with live cabaret, performance art, deejays, visual art, magic, rituals, transformations, and transfigurations. It is a tranquil place for folks to relax and connect with one another and with nature, in the special ways of faeries. All are welcome to visit and are encouraged to bring things to share: food, drink, art, drums, drag, an open heart, and an open mind.

The Homo Hip Hop Stage will continue Pride’s recognition of the LGBT presence in the local and international communities of independent hip-hop artists and club deejays. This year’s component will feature local queer and allied deejays in the hope to encourage visibility in the Bay Area and beyond.

Last year the NectArena Women’s Stage went on a one year hiatus to prepare for the 40th anniversary of the SF Pride Celebration. The NectArena Women’s stage will be in a new location on McAllister St. (between Hyde & Leavenworth). To see what entertainment is in store go to www.nectarena.com.

Soul of Pride will be celebrating its 10th year at SF Pride at the African Diaspora Stage & Village. Soul of Pride is dedicated to ensuring that black voices, issues, and presence are represented and visible at San Francisco’s annual Pride event and throughout the year. The 2010 stage lineup includes YOYO, Kimberly Jackson, Dana Ryan, The Satisfaction, drummers, legendary drag queens, and guest performers. This year, Soul of Pride will team up with Bay Area Dj and a diverse talent. Please check out their award winning Youth float on the parade route. For information, please contact sfsoulofpride@gmail.com.

If you are looking for the tribal trance dance experience (and who isn’t) then head to the Tantra stage. The Tantra Underground Dance Music Stage is a showcase of San Francisco underground electronic dance music. Brought to you by the same crew who have rocked Pink Saturday, Castro Halloween, and Lovefest SF, the Tantra stage will take dancers through an afternoon of NRG and break-beats, building up to a peak of high energy trance.

San Francisco Pride tries to reduce their ecological footprint by providing marked disposal cans for recycling (marked blue), composting (marked green), and trash (marked black). All beverage cups used at the event are 100% compostable and are made from natural derivatives.
The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee takes very seriously its commitment to maintaining an event that is open to people of all economic backgrounds.

The organization relies on the donations at the entrances to the Celebration helps to keep this amazing events free to all members of the community and provides crucial support to this important community event. The donations program also helps to support over eighty Bay Area non-profit LGBT organizations and those organizations serving the HIV/AIDS and breast cancer communities. Donations from the celebration have helped San Francisco Pride to give back more than $1.6 million in grants since 1997.
For more information go to sfpride.org