PrideFest kicks off 2018 summer festival season
State's largest LGBTQ gathering recognizes those who #LiveProud
PrideFest Milwaukee 2018
Milwaukee, WI – PrideFest Milwaukee, proudly celebrating local LGBTQ culture and community, officially kicks off the summer festival season on Thursday, June 7, 2018.
PrideFest Milwaukee is the world’s largest LGBTQ celebration with permanent festival grounds, owned and operated entirely by volunteers each and every year. The festival traces its heritage back to 1974, when 350 people attended the city’s first organized expression of pride at the Gay People’s Union Ball. This year, PrideFest 2018 is expected to attract over 40,000 visitors over the four-day weekend, shattering attendance records for the seventh consecutive year.
PrideFest is proud to support a number of important causes of the LGBTQ and allied communities, honoring champions who are doing work to make our state a fair and just place to live, work and play for all Wisconsinites, regardless of gender identity.
In 2018, PrideFest Milwaukee:
- Supports Diverse & Resilient, which strives to address and overcome the health disparities experienced by Wisconsin’s LGBTQ people, as the PrideFest Plus One campaign recipient;
- Salutes the bravery, valor and courage of the LGBT community and the U.S. Armed forces with the Armed Forces Pride promotion, welcoming all active and veteran military to enjoy complimentary admission for themselves and a guest;
- Recognizes the strength of key individuals, organizations and allies with the 2018 Pride Awards, for advancing LGBTQ causes in Milwaukee;
- Welcomes a wide variety of national entertainment acts, including the B-52s, Jussie Smollett, Daya, JoJo, Fortune Feimster and the Ladies of Comedy, as well as Milwaukee favorites GGOOLLDD, REYNA, Tigernite, Lex Allen, in the nation’s largest line-up of LGBTQ talent across 10 performance areas;
- Kicks off an unprecedented fourth day of the festival weekend with a Thursday Launch Party, featuring international superstars DJs Cash Cash;
- Invites attendees to hear from Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, the first out transgender woman to be elected to a state legislature in American history;
- Launches the state’s first LGBTQ-themed motorcycle ride, the Ride with Pride, in partnership with the Harley-Davidson Museum.
About Milwaukee Pride
The mission of Milwaukee Pride, Inc., is:
- to educate both the general community and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) communities about needs, issues and various aspects of the LGBTQ culture;
- to provide a forum to celebrate the history and accomplishments of LGBTQ people;
- to create an environment for networking and outreach for services and community opportunities for LGBTQ people and their families and friends; and
- any other activities exclusively for charitable, educational, and research purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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