Clearing up some Festival facts
I’m a bit disappointed by the tone of Hardy Haberman’s article on the Festival in Lee Park (“The end of the free festival,” Dallas Voice, April 15).
The writer admits up front that he never attended the event. I’m not sure where the nostalgia comes from if you have not been a regular in the park following the parade.
We all miss the “good old days” when the world was different. Days when people respected the law, followed rules, respected each other and controlled their drinking and fighting.
Things have changed. Sadly, the festival has degenerated to an embarrassing level. It was evident on the parade route this past year. It was most evident in the park for the last two years.
Uncontrolled drinking of cases and cases of beer brought into the park led to a lot of issues: Gay on gay issues; drunk, loud, vulgar language in front of children; rude behavior and more fights than we have ever experienced.
The actions of a few of our community disgusted several GLBT families with children. Rude, vulgar actions led only to anger on the part of the offending parties that their actions were questioned. And most all of it was due to uncontrolled beer and even liquor consumption.
Public drunkenness is illegal. Bringing liquor into the park is illegal. We run the risk of losing the support and attendance of much of the GLBT community if we do not control the events in the park. That would be a real loss.
TABC and Homeland Security are an issue, even though the writer scoffed at the idea. Homeland Security is the reason police requirements rose from 20 officers to 85 officers (DPD wanted 100 officers). These are all $35 to $45 per hour, per officer. We are approaching $20,000 in security.
Add to that a clean-up cost of $12,000 because in a celebration, no one wants to pick up after themselves. Add to that a festival in the park where the celebration is used by a few as an excuse to get as drunk as they want, with no thought or respect for others in attendance.
Frankly, this damages the GLBT image. It drives away good, responsible GLBT people from attending, and it cheapens the event.
A loss for the community? Yes, but that loss is not about a free event in the park. It’s a loss of reason, a loss of responsibility, a loss of respect and decency.
Americans in general have lost it. Some in the GLBT community have lost it. Fencing in the park was a last resort effort to control the drunkenness and the sanity during our festival.
The decision would have been taken out of our hands next year anyway. The Tavern Guild made the only good choice, and thanks to that decision, the festival will continue, “for now.”
Alan Pierce
Treasurer, Dallas Tavern Guild
More on charging for the Festival
Though I understand the reasoning, I think they will find that far fewer people attend the event, myself included … unless truly there is big name entertainment.
Bummer, via DallasVoice.com
The entire “Pride” thing is a joke. There is no pride. Its an excuse to be exhibionistic and to get stinking drunk. Sad, sad, sad.
Jim, via DallasVoice.com
This is what you get when you allow a community event to be sponsored by a group of business people whose main concern is getting a large amount of people into their bars and drinking their overpriced drinks. Lee Park is a PUBLIC PARK and the idea that a business group could fence it and charge admission goes against everything the idea of a public park should be. Of course, if the Tavern Guild is decrying the amount of “drunks” at the parade, they have no one to blame but themselves. Pride Schmide.
Brett, via DallasVoice.com
It (charging admission) is a great idea. I wish it would have happened sooner. I re-read the article and the negative comments seem extreme and unfounded.
Little Monster, via DallasVoice.com
Log Cabin Republicans was planning on having a booth as it always does at the festival until we read about the rule changes. The rule changes will impede attendance as much or more than the $5.
Can you imagine Lee Park with a perimeter fence? Nobody will be able to enter without going through a main entrance. Can you imagine renting a booth and not being allowed to bring in a cooler for your workers and guests? We just offer water and soft drinks, but coolers are now prohibited.
I don’t believe these rules will stand for very long as surely nobody will commit to a festival that nobody will attend.
Robert Schlein, via DallasVoice.com
Well it seems the times are changing. But I will tell you right here and now, we will never attend again if there is charging to go into the park. Fort Worth is bad enough charging for the dang food and drinks now. And honestly the last year for us was this past year. We are going to just have a huge cook out and have our drinks at home. You save gas and money that way. Yes I know times are rough. But really get a grip. do not see how you are going to control incidents by charging to get into a dang park where you have to pay for everything anyhow. Took a BRAINIAC to think this one up.
Mr. Pierce can finger wag and try and spin their bad ideas in the name of security all he wants. Dallas Tavern Guild Executive Director Michael Doughman has already admitted that this is also about increasing revenue. If the Guild can’t foot the bill themselves, then they need to be more creative than caging Lee park in the name of Pride.
Take your sad excuses and clear.
to help with clean up, how about One, people clean up after them selves, have more trash barrels..
2. have the community help with the clean up after events.
Its a great event, so lets clean up after yourself n help others around you as well.
The Tavern Guild does an incredible job, period!
They have the experience of planning this event for many years and if they have reached a point were changes are necessary, then changes are necessary. It’s easy to talk about what should or shouldn’t happen but until you’ve actually produced an event of this magnitude it might be best to defer to those who know something about it!
So Sad That it has come to this.. MY business and a lot of them I know will be pulling their applications to be in lee park. IT is sad that greed has taken over our festivals. Yeah we have drunks Yea we have fights but um isn’t it the securities job to take care of that. Why charge us when it was the organizers fault for letting it get this bad?
If I remember correctly, drinking used to not be much of a problem at the rally because alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the park. Then several years ago, the parade organizers obtained a permit to sell beer at the rally to raise more money. I guess it wasn’t long before people decided to start bringing their own to the rally to avoid paying high prices for a cup of beer. Now more money is needed for security to control the party. Talk about a vicious cycle.
It does seem suspicious that it is the Tavern Guild that is trying to restrict the ability of people to bring their own drinks. Further, the pride parade has always had a sex positive element to it. Those that bring children have to know that going in.
this is the same old shit from the tavern guild as last week, just a different spin.. all the bars over charge us and do we still go to them? some do but i dont… your choice so stay home like me, lol…
Does the “Tavern Guild” ..aka (Caven Enterprises controlled) actually think anyone is stupid enough to think this is anything other than another way for them to sell alcohol and make a profit? It is a PUBLIC Park and fencing it off and charging changes the atmosphere of this event. It I want to pay for alcohol at inflated prices I’ll go visit the bars..NO THANKS. I and a lot of my friends will not be there. Thanks for ruining this.
I still do not understand. Why does the Pride celebration have to be (a) a parade (b) on Cedar Springs that (c) culminates in a rally at Lee Park? It it just because this is what has always been done? Does tradition outweigh practicality? Michael Doughman was very explicit with his initial assessment: the costs have risen exponentially. The city has imposed more restrictions. The crowd (or at least SOME of the crowd) is not behaving in a respectable manner. The streets are being trashed. And the answer is to fence off the park. It appears to me that (a) the fence will add to the cost, (b) the streets will still be trashed whether the park is fenced or not and (c) those who behave inappropriately will continue to do so, whether inside the fence or outside. What am I missing here?
Alan Pierce = cranky old fart. Its time for these dinosaurs to step aside and let the new generation handle parades and parties. I dont know why anyone with his attitude is even in the bar business. Now that I know how he looks down upon us drunks, I’ll think twice before spending my money in his bar.
Casey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the new generation of today will become the cranky old farts of tomorrow. And you’ll be one of them. And if you like big words, you can also throw in persnickety, cantankerous and obstinate into the mix. The process is called “aging”. You may not believe it is happening to you (especially if you’re a 20-something), but believe me, it is.
How right you are, James. I never dreamed that one day I would be one of the old timers. It seemed impossible. I guess all young people think that.
Casey Belcher = anotherr whiney “keyboard expert”. I think Casey should volunteer to help with this year’s parade and festival. Then Casey can talk about it with some degree of intelligence and experience.
I think they should charge more like other Big City’s but get us some better talent and sound please. I think they should have had the 100 cops on site this year. I saw 3 fights, drunk queens making a mess for everyone trying to enjoy the events. You get what you pay for that’s why it has been such a bore perhaps. 🙂
Has anyone ever thought of moving the Pride festival to another spot? If public drunkeness is causing all these issues then maybe someone should consider moving the festival out of Oak Lawn. Other cities do it, like Denver and Minneapolis (both with huge pride festivals – they put Dallas to shame). Maybe it should be moved to Fair Park? Tons of space and Fair Park is such a jewel that this city seems to forget to use. Maybe we should start thinking about other alternatives other than Lee Park and the corner of Throckmorton and Cedar Springs.
I do have to agree a little here , I did not feel much pride in my community, when the first thing I saw at the parade last year was about five or more diffident groups , that brought their own KEG of beer, and where doing keg head stands, at 10 am. But will have to say I will not be going to Lee park this year, I can’t imagine that crowd fenced in , with only one exit , um no thanks.