PrideFest Love

There are different types of love. There is the love between a mother and son, the love for a sibling, the love for a best friend, and the love ice cream… just to name a few. Well I have found a new type of love – the PrideFest love.


There is a special love for people who work on PrideFest. You may not be particularly fond of the individual on a daily basis, the person may not be someone you would talk to on a regular basis, or you may have never interacted with the person before; however, when they work hard to produce something as big as PrideFest they hold a very special place in your heart.

To people who I did PrideFest for two years with, I can honestly say that I love most all of them. However it is a special love like no other. I think it has to do with the common bond we all share – a shared experience.

To people reading this who are not in Denver – PrideFest 2008 was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!! Our attendance went form an estimated 210,000 in 2007 to over 250,000 in 2008. We also did well financially. We saw a 26% increase in revenue this year. PrideFest is a fundraiser for The GLBT Community Center of Colorado – a 501©3 non-profit. So this increase is of course going to good use.

We always want to grow and prepare for growth – however, we did not expect and were not prepared for this large of an increase. It was a nightmare for production; however, of all problems to have, this is THE BEST DARN PROBLEM!

The festival recieved a lot of media coverage. Mostly positive but also some negative. It hurts to read negative press on something we work so hard on. However- one day we will have equality and hopefully the hate will be erased.

I have about 100,000,000 stories from the weekend and things I can say about the festival and experience. I simply cannot write about all of them (and would prob get fired if I wrote some of them).

Peace, Love & Apple Pie-
Ryan