‘We’re still here! We’re still queer!’ 2021 Charlotte Pride will be in-person.
Charlotte Pride, the city’s largest and most colorful parade and festival celebrating the LGBTQ community, will return with in-person events starting in August.
Instead of the usual week-long celebration, organizers said this year’s Pride will last a whole season, running for four months until mid-November, to avoid widespread gathering of people in a short span of time.
“We’re still here! We’re still queer! And we’re excited to bring Charlotte Pride’s annual events back in person for 2021!” the announcement reads. “Charlotte Pride is the Queen City’s way to celebrate, commemorate, empower, and uplift our community – and this year we are bringing you even more unique opportunities, activities, and programs than ever before!”
The events were created with the health of attendees in mind, organizers said, and the Charlotte Pride team will be thoughtful of current health conditions and adapt to them as the Pride Season events continue throughout the year.
This year’s uptown Pride festival will look a little different — Charlotte Pride is planning to create “special zones” to avoid big crowds. Organizers recently announced that the Pride Parade will be hosted October 24 in Uptown. Applications are being accepted now and organizers are hopeful about hosting a relatively “normal” in-person parade.
“To put it simply: There is no safe way to bring together hundreds of thousands of people at a single event in a single space and time this year,” the announcement said. “We know it may come as a disappointment, but we’re confident our event plans this year will enable our community to come together in safe, meaningful ways until we can return to a full-scale event in 2022.”
Charlotte Pride usually draws nearly 200,000 visitors a year and creates millions of dollars in revenue in the city. Last year’s celebration, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was supposed to be its 20th anniversary.
Involvement opportunities are available, including vendor and parade applications and award nominations. Organizers said more details will be released as the season approaches.
In the meantime, Charlotte Pride is asking community members to keep wearing their masks, social distancing, and getting vaccinated. About half of North Carolinians are partially vaccinated, while it’s closer to a third in Mecklenburg County.
“Every person in our community can take action today and in the coming months to ensure we can gather in-person and safely this year, with our eyes eagerly pointed toward the return of a full-scale festival and parade in 2022.”
Here’s an overview of the season’s events:
Charlotte Pride Weekend of Service — Aug. 21-22
Charlotte Pride Interfaith Service — Sept. 12
Pride Night! A Charlotte Pride Concert Event — Sept. 17
Charlotte Pride’s Pop-Up Pride Festival — Sept. 18
Charlotte Pride Parade — October 24
Reel Out Charlotte, the Queen City’s LGBTQ Film Festival — Nov. 5-7
Charlotte Pride Community Empowerment Conference & Job Fair — Nov. 13
For more information on this year’s Pride Season, please click here.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 4:30 PM.
