This 12 months’s Pacific Satisfaction Competition isn’t nearly celebrating Santa Barbara’s LGBTQ+ neighborhood; it’s about bringing collectively all the metropolis to unite in mild of the current uptick in assaults in opposition to the queer neighborhood throughout the nation.
“This 12 months’s pageant finds us at a time when a rise in assaults in opposition to members of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, each nationally and regionally, have focused these we love by means of violence, laws and acts of intimidation,” mentioned Kristin Flickinger, government director of the Pacific Satisfaction Basis. “Satisfaction is about celebrating every particular person of their wholeness.”
The pageant returns Saturday, August 26, at Chase Palm Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with reside leisure, meals vehicles, and a beer backyard that the Pacific Satisfaction Basis hopes will “ignite a sense of togetherness, pleasure, and energy all through the bigger neighborhood.”
Organizers mentioned this 12 months’s pageant prioritized themes of “belonging and entry,” ensuring that each side of the occasion could be welcoming and equitable to all attendees. This contains providing Spanish, Mixteco, and American Signal Language interpretation for all stage reveals, and a devoted “raised platform” developed to permit attendees with wheelchairs and mobility variations to view onstage expertise with out challenge.
Dwell performances begin at 11 a.m., starting with “Artwork as Resistance,” which is described as “a rousing hour that includes queer artists with a message of empowerment, introspection, and inclusion.” The occasion’s headliner can be Calypso Jetè Balmain, a celebrated activist and entertainer also called the “Mom of the Home of Balmain.”
Attendees can even go to a number of pageant areas, with areas carved out for Arts, Well being, Open air, Spirituality, and a Social Justice Motion Middle, sponsored by The Fund for Santa Barbara, the place attendees can spend time speaking with the elected representatives from midday to three p.m.
Additionally new this 12 months can be a sober house known as “Sparkletown,” and a silent disco.
The occasion can be free and open to all ages, although organizers are encouraging guests to make use of public transportation as parking can be “very restricted.” Bike valet can be offered, as will a free shuttle operating all day between Isla Vista and the pageant.
For extra data, go to PacificPrideFoundation.org.
