ATLANTA (July 1, 2020) — The Atlanta Pride Committee today announced that the 2020 Pride Festival will not be held in person due to the ongoing pandemic. Instead, the festival will be held as a virtual event centered around the scheduled dates in October.
"We regret to announce that we will not be able to hold the 2020 Pride Festival in person, due to the ongoing pandemic," said Jamie Fergerson, Executive Director, Atlanta Pride Committee. "The health and wellbeing of our community is always our top priority, especially for the most marginalized in our community including queer and transgender folks who we know are less likely to have access to safe and competent primary care, LGBT elders, those living with HIV, cancer or immunodeficiencies who are at increased risk. This was the main factor in our decision."
"By moving the Atlanta Pride Festival online, we will ensure that LGBTQ+ people can still experience the joy and togetherness of our 50th Annual Pride Festival and we hope to welcome new people to take part wherever they are."
The Atlanta Pride Committee is in the process of planning a variety of virtual events throughout the year to keep the community engaged. Though the Atlanta Pride celebration is its biggest annual event, the work the organization does throughout the year goes beyond any single moment. Its ongoing purpose is to advance unity, visibility and self-esteem among its community, and it will continue to do that through virtual programming and other actions as appropriate.
The goal of APC is to serve its community and come together to celebrate and continue its work along with its sponsors and partners.
"These past few months have been challenging," said Fergerson. "However, we have been able to engage our community through a number of online events that have shown great promise. We will continue to develop online programs throughout the year, culminating in our first virtual Pride Festival to bring us together to celebrate."
More detailed information about the virtual festival will be announced in the near future. Market and parade registrants will be contacted about next steps within one week.
Media Contact:
Shelia Merritt | Q&A Events | E: [email protected] | P: 404.762.5565 ext 302