FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / August 16, 2011
Contact: Dave Webb, Co-Chair / 980-395-3264 / Dave@PrideCharlotte.com

Charlotte LGBT Center kicks-off 10-day Pride Week extravaganza, culminating with annual Pride Charlotte Festival, Aug. 27

CHARLOTTE – Highlighting the social, cultural, ethnic and artistic diversity of the metro Charlotte area’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte will kick-off their 10-day Pride Charlotte Week slate of activities on Aug. 19. The diverse series of events run through Aug. 28, with its premier event, the annual Pride Charlotte Festival, taking over S. Tryon St. and Uptown’s Levine Center for the Arts on Saturday, Aug. 27, Noon-8 p.m. A full list of Pride Charlotte events and activities can be found at PrideCharlotte.com/events/.

For the first time, organizers have moved their annual festival to S. Tryon St., home to many of the city’s other high-profile festivals and street fairs. The event, featuring dozens of vendors and multiple stages of entertainment, will include featured national and local entertainers like Charlotte hip-hop band Eyes of the Elders, drag performer Jessica Wild from Logo’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” teenaged transgender singer-songwriter Ryan Cassata, recording artist Adam Tyler,  indie rocker Richard Cortez and many others.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts are scheduled to speak at the Pride Charlotte Festival on Aug. 27 at 2 p.m. on the festival’s Stonewall Stage. For more on this year’s festival, a festival map and entertainment line-up, visit PrideCharlotte.com/events/festival/.

Pride Charlotte Week will run Aug. 19-28. The week-long series of events includes an art exhibit, an interfaith Pride worship service, diverse nightlife events, a family-friendly picnic and more. In addition, “The Sounds of Pride,” a joint concert in celebration of Pride Charlotte will be presented by the Charlotte Pride Band, Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte and One Voice Chorus at the Mint Museum Uptown on Thursday, Aug. 25. For more information on Sounds of Pride and for tickets, visit PrideCharlotte.com/SoundsofPride/.

Pride Charlotte, a project of The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, is the largest event across the Carolinas celebrating the lives and culture of the LGBT community. A portion of proceeds from the event benefit The Center.

For more detailed information about Pride Charlotte, visit PrideCharlotte.com.

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This year’s Pride Charlotte Week and Pride Charlotte Festival are gearing up for an exciting slate of activities. Arts and museum events, community fundraisers, bowling, concerts and so much more! There’s also plenty of night-time fun to be had. That’s where you come in!

Is your club or bar hosting a special after party for Pride Charlotte on Aug. 27? Let us know! Email us the details at media@pridecharlotte.com and we’ll get your party listed. Please include your event name, location and address, start time, any cover charges and costs and other pertinent information.

On Saturday, July 30, Pride Charlotte held a special event to raise awareness of the upcoming Pride Charlotte Week and Festival, attracting sports and outdoors enthusiasts to Charlotte’s premier outdoors sporting venue.

According to Center officials, some 1,500 community members and supporters made a great, big, gay splash at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. In addition, hundreds of discounted tickets for Whitewater Center attractions were sold via PrideCharlotte.com prior to the event. Participants in the special Pride Day were encouraged to wear red shirts to show their support and increase visibility. Some Whitewater staff even adorned their helmets and other gear with stickers containing the Human Rights Campaign’s iconic, blue and gold equality sign logo.

A round of applause and a big thank you goes out to Pride Charlotte committee member and Pride Day organizer Riley Noelle-Murray and the staff of the U.S. National Whitewater Center for helping Pride Charlotte make this special day a success.

View some photos from the day below.

Remember to check out our full calendar of Pride Week events. We hope to see you Uptown for the Pride Charlotte Festival on Aug. 27! Click here for more information.

Photos by Craig Snider

The Pride Charlotte Festival is among the largest LGBT Pride events across the Carolinas. Setting up the festival, operating it during the day and helping to pack up are important tasks. As an all-volunteer effort and fundraiser for The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, we count on good-hearted people just like you to step up and help us make the day an absolute success for community unity, visibility, growth and fun!

Pride Charlotte continues to issue our call for volunteers. We hope you’ll join us in Uptown on Aug. 27! Volunteer for just a part of the day or for the whole day! Either way, you’re guaranteed to have some fun, make new friends and connections and know you’re contributing to a phenomenal cause.

You can learn more about volunteer opportunities here or go ahead and click on our VolunteerSpot button below to get started on scheduling your own volunteer shift!

Going into this year’s Pride Charlotte Week and Festival, we knew we were in for some exciting partnerships. Boy, oh, boy, we just had no clue. In addition to special deals for area museums and other attractions, like our recent Gay Splash Day at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, Flying Biscuit Cafe is joining in!

Join Flying Biscuit Cafe at their two Charlotte locations every Monday through August, starting today, for a special fundraiser for Pride Charlotte! A full 10 percent of your purchase will be donated to Pride Charlotte!

Flying Biscuit – Park Road
4241 Park Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28209
(704) 714-3400

Flying Biscuit – Stonecrest Shopping Center
7930 A Rea Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28277
(704) 295-4440

More info: flyingbiscuit.com

Flying Biscuit will also be joining us at the Pride Charlotte Festival, Aug. 27, noon-8 p.m., on S. Tryon St. See their ad for details about their special day at Pride Charlotte below…

When the Pride Charlotte organizing committee and the board of The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte decided earlier this year to move the annual Pride Charlotte Festival Uptown, we knew we were going to be in for some exciting growth, new partnerships and a bright future.

So, imagine the how one of our committee members was walking Uptown yesterday after he stumbled upon the advertisement below. So exciting! You can find these Pride Charlotte ads are on S. Tryon St., at some of the bus stop canopies. Hope to see you Uptown on Aug. 27!