LGBTQ East Bay leaders announce plans for a revamped Oakland Pride festival
After last year's implosion of Oakland Pride's annual celebration, a new group is organizing a festival for the East Bay city this fall.
Dubbed PrideFest 2022, community members from several LGBTQ businesses and organizations have begun planning for the September 11 event, which will not include a parade.
COVID-19 had dogged Oakland Pride's efforts over the past couple of years, forcing the group to move the celebration to a virtual event in 2020 then canceling again in 2021 just two weeks before its scheduled date. (It had some virtual content last year.) Now, PrideFest organizers are moving forward to bring an in-person street festival to The Town. "We're just in the formation stages," said Sean Sullivan, a gay man who owns the Port Bar in downtown Oakland.
At this point, organizers haven't even finalized the location or whether they´ll be charging festival admission as Oakland Pride did, Sullivan said in a February 10 phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter.
