Long Beach’s Pride Parade is set to go on as planned Sunday despite the city’s cancellation of the two-day Long Beach Pride Festival because of problems with required paperwork and inspections.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. Sunday at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue and move along Ocean Boulevard past the reviewing stand across from Bixby Park to its end at Alamitos Avenue.
Honorary Grand Marshals will include XB Valentine, California Treasurer Fiona Ma, NBC4 News anchor Annabella Sedano and Telemundo anchor Enrique Chiabra with a record number of entries.
Meanwhile, organizers and others expressed disappointment after the city’s last-minute cancellation of the long planned Long Beach Pride Festival — which was scheduled for this weekend at Marina Green Park on Shoreline Drive — due to concerns about permits and public safety planning.
The ticketed event “requires the submission of detailed operational, construction and public safety plans in order to be permitted to ensure safety of the attendees,” Special Events officials said in a statement on the city’s website. “Unfortunately … the Long Beach Pride Festival will not be able to take place this year as sufficient information to safely permit the event has not been made available by the event organizers.”
In a statement on the festival’s website, organizers did not directly respond to the permit allegations but instead cited current challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community and Long Beach’s long history as one of the nation’s best cities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer inclusion as cited by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index.
“At this moment we need leadership, we need inclusion. We need the city to stand for us, not cancel us,” Long Beach Pride President Tonya Martin said.
“This time we asked for help again early in the year and it never was given. If they do it to us is to do it to all of us,” Martin said.
The theme for what remains is “Fearless and Free,” highlighting resilience, authenticity and equality.
The city statement said alternate plans were in place for people who are already in town with plans to attend the festival on Saturday or Sunday.
“To accommodate those coming into town for that event, Long Beach will add additional transit options to connect downtown locations to the Bixby Park area so that there are many options available to celebrate in Long Beach,” city officials said.
Many on social media noted that large crowds typically attend the festival and pump thousands of dollars into the local economy. Others said the event is almost entirely organized by volunteers with little to no professional staff.
“Expecting an event that must coordinate with city departments and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on to be completely run by volunteers is unreasonable,” Chuck Stewart posted under a Facebook announcement about the cancellation. “These events need at least a paid professional leader who can keep the event on track.”
In their statement, festival organizers pledged to seek a way to restore the festival to future Pride weekends in Long Beach.
“We call on the City of Long Beach to immediately engage in good faith with Long Beach Pride, community leaders, public safety partners, and elected officials to identify a path forward that preserves the festival and protects the community,” Martin’s statement continued. “We call on our Mayor Rex Richardson and the city council members to make the Pride Festival happen. We ask that our city leaders stand with the community at this critical moment and help ensure that Long Beach remains a beacon of equality, safety, and pride.”
As for this year’s festival, city officials said time ran out to safely plan the event.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city’s official statement said. “With event programming scheduled to begin [Friday] … and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Tickets were $75 for the two-day event and roughly 300 had been sold in advance, according to the LAist news site.
Some commenting on social media said they were already in the process of seeking refunds.
“This situation is unacceptable,” Facebook user Power Man noted under the announcement. “If the organizers already knew the event was going to be canceled and continued selling tickets, that could be considered fraud. There seems to be something suspicious behind this cancellation and it should be investigated immediately. I am requesting a full refund as soon as possible.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Long Beach, was among those expressing disappointment about the festival cancellation while urging people to still find ways to celebration Pride in the city this weekend
“Long Beach Pride has been a beacon of joy, pride, and acceptance for decades,” Hahn said in a statement. “While I am happy that the Pride parade will go on as planned, I am disappointed that the festival has been canceled.
“I hope that people will still come out and celebrate this weekend, see the performances that have been relocated to the Terrace Theater, and support the local Long Beach businesses that are just as proud as ever.”
City officials said Pride weekend remains one of the community’s defining events.
“This weekend is one of the busiest in the City of Long Beach as the community celebrates Pride and the LGBTQ+ community,” officials said. “Long Beach is proud to host the Pride Parade, which will occur as promised this year, and will feature 141 entries — the most in City history.
“Many Long Beach bars, restaurants and businesses will be fully activated, and the City has permitted five special events to activate additional spaces. Information on all that is happening this weekend in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community can be found at visitlongbeach.com/events/annual-events/long-beach-pride, which will be updated throughout the weekend. The City encourages everyone to have fun and celebrate safely.”