08/20/2024
A huge thank you!
Dear community, volunteers, and honored guests:
Our festival this past Saturday was a roaring success. Not only did we have the first historic PRIDE Festival in Athens, but we showed our local community how much love and joy we can exhibit when we come together.
For our first PRIDE Festival here are some notable firsts and victories. We had a little over 400 in attendance and participating. For our first PRIDE event of this nature Athens, that is huge.
Secondly, we raised a little over $2000 to go towards next year’s event. In credit card swipes the average person gave us on average of $22 a person totaling $910 just with 40 card swipes. That is really amazing and a testament to how the public responded. Many people were dropping $20’s and even more. People want PRIDE to happen in Athens.
Also, we had a couple who drove up from Florida just to have their most important day with us at our festival - another first. When I congratulated the couple after the ceremony they were simply ecstatic and thanked us for letting them have their big day with us, and they helped make the festival a hundred times more special.
Then, what can I say about our handful of volunteers but BRAVO! You all conducted yourselves with so much grace and love and courage, even in the face of ugly bigotry. Our gatekeepers handled the entry process like seasoned professionals, our escorts were brave and observant - making sure everyone had safe entry into the festival. Even going so far as to protect festival attendees’ cars. I am so proud and thankful for all of the volunteers that helped. You were my hands and heart when I could not be every place at all times.
And what can I say about the vendors? You all lugged your tents, equipment and all of your goods and services onto the field, and it did my heart good on Saturday morning as one by one of you set up to make our festival so great. Black Rhino and Pizza Hut offered great food, and who could resist ‘The Promise’ - our special Athens Festival only mocktail?! It was delicious. And no one will forget about the beautiful albino boa who almost stole the show. And wasn’t DJ Brian Bennett wonderful, too?! His hard work and dedication throughout the day with all of his challenges, kept that beat alive! And who can beat our local talent of Ms. Sharp and Cody Hensley along with our fabulous Zumba class - despite a blazing sun, you sang and danced beautifully. All of the vendors and performers were great and you really were the best of the best.
As for our honored guest, Representative Gloria Johnson, you inspired us and reminded us that we can win if we only participate. I know that come November you will win for the people and we will be so honored to have you represent us in congress. We are so thankful that you took time out of your busy schedule to talk to us and remind us all of what is important this year - our very democracy. We must vote if we are to win.
None of this would have been possible without Carver Cares and Brian Sullivan. Without them, we would still be raising funds.
And lastly, to our beloved q***r community. My hope is that this festival shows how much we can do when we pull together in the face of adversity. When I started organizing this festival, I had questions like ‘aren’t you afraid of violence or isn’t this illegal?’ I did my best to reassure everyone that we could do this and have a great time. And I hope the community enjoyed themselves and felt appreciated.
We made history on Saturday and it’s all thanks to all of the participation. Next year I hope we can create something bigger and brighter and even more fun.
Sincerely
Michael Coffey, organizer
Athens PRIDE
