Growing Pride

Lady Bunny

Arlington Pride organizers have upped their game this year for a bigger, better event

TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com

When DeeJay Johannessen and the folks at HELP Center for LGBT Health and Wellness decided to organize Arlington’s first Pride event, they expected maybe 250-300 people would show up. More than 1,000 people ended up attending the celebration.

Organizers were thrilled with attendance, Johannessen said, “but when we started planning for this year’s Pride, we knew we had to get a space that would accommodate a much larger crowd.”

The first venue to come to mind was Arlington’s Levitt Pavilion, the outdoor music venue nestled right at the city’s center. Johannessen said Pride organizers first started working with the board that manages the pavilion last September, just three months or so after last year’s festival.

“We knew we had to start early, Johannessen said. “The Levitt hosts about 50 free concerts every year, and we had to make sure that we didn’t schedule something else on the second weekend in June before we could get it.

“So we got a contract,” he continued. “And then we worked with the city’s parks and recreation department to get all the permits and things we needed.

Then we started reaching out for entertainers, and we had them lined up by December.

“And we’ve been working since then to make sure everything is perfect.” And sponsorship by Frank Kent Cadillac helped cover the costs.

The 2023 Frank Kent Cadillac Arlington Pride celebration takes place Saturday, June 10, from 6-10 p.m. at Levitt Pavilion, 100 W. Abram St. And Johannessen said organizers are expecting between 3,500 and 4,500 people to attend.

He said that by early this week, records showed that 80 percent of those who had requested tickets for the event were coming in from outside of Arlington.

“For many of those people, it could be the first time they’ve actually seen our city. We want to make sure to show them the best Arlington has to offer,” Johannessen said. “We want them to have a good time, and when they leave to go home, we want them to say, ‘That’s a really cool place. I want to go back there.’”

He noted that people from 26 different states have gotten tickets for Arlington Pride. “We initially thought that was mostly students, people who have come here for college, or someone coming in to visit someone who lives here,” he noted. “Recently though, we were told there are people literally flying in from out of state specifically to come to Arlington Pride.”

Drag legend Lady Bunny will be on hand as DJ for the VIP reception, and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Kennedy Davenport, Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Symone will headline the evening’s entertainment on the Levitt Pavilion stage.

“We have some top-notch local drag queens performing, too,” Johannessen said. “We have two queens from every gay bar in Tarrant County. Plus, we have local singer Claire Hinkle and Luke Chacko, too.”

While the singers and drag queens will be onstage inside Levitt Pavilion, Johannessen said Pride will spread out around the area: “On Abrams Street, from Oak Street to Center Street, and on Pecan Street from Main Street to South Street — everything within that area, we have. We will have six food trucks, 40 vendor and sponsor booths. We will have a misting tent and yard games — something for everyone to enjoy.”

Arlington Pride is a free event, Johannessen said, but you have to have a ticket to get into Levitt Pavilion that night. You just have to visit the Arlington Pride 2023 EventBrite.com page to get your ticket and reserve your spot.

By why do you need a ticket for a free event? The reason, Johannessen said, is simple.

“The tickets are free, but you have to have one to get in because this is a private event,” he explained. “Because this is a private, ticketed event, if someone starts misbehaving, we can have them removed from the area. If it were a public event, we could only have them removed if they were breaking the law.”

Organizers made that decision, he said, in part as a way to address protesters who might try to disrupt the celebration. “But,” Johannessen added, “there are always some people who just don’t know how to behave in public. If that happens, we are able to ask them to leave, even if what they are doing is not illegal.”

Speaking of protesters, Johannessen said organizers certainly expect some to show up.

“If you have a gay Pride event in Texas, you are going to have protesters,” he said. “I mean, if you have a Pride event and no protesters showed up, it was probably because your event sucked!”

Seriously though, he said, “Those of us in the LGBTQ community are habituated to see protesters at our events. And you know what, we support their First Amendment right to be there.

“If they just say their piece and move on, that’s fine,” he continued. “Of course, these days there are some folks who are just trying to create chaos and disruption. We are ready for them too. We’ve worked very closely with the Arlington Police Department and the folks with Levitt Pavilion to make sure everyone can come and have a safe, fun and exciting event.

“We are confident we have done everything to make that happen.”

Visit ArlingtonPride.org for details.