The festival will also include a series of parties, community get-togethers and films as well as educational workshops and presentations. As is only appropriate for “America’s Most Haunted City,” the festival will take place over Halloween weekend, October 26 – 29.
“This year, it is particularly important to bring the Savannah Pride Festival front-and-center,” says Dusty Church, new Festival Director. “Historically, the festival has taken place in a beautiful but not central part of town, isolated by a fence and an admission fee. As the government chips away at LGBT rights, from the move to ban transgender Americans for serving in the armed forces to the recent news of the Department of Justice throwing its support behind a wedding vendor who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex couple, we felt it was time to come out of the shadows. By bringing it downtown and making it free, we encourage the community to join in this celebration of diversity.”
Having begun in 1999, Savannah Pride is one of Georgia’s largest and longest-running pride events. Throughout its 18-year history, it has celebrated a region known for its unique Southern charm as well as its unmatched natural, historic and architectural beauty.
Last year Savannah celebrated its designation by Travel + Leisure Magazine as one of the top three travel destinations in the U.S. and one of the top ten in the world.
“Savannah is an enchanting town where eccentrics, artists, new transplants, students and a vibrant LGBT community mingle with ease with traditional Southerners and people whose roots run deep in the Georgia soil,” says Church. “More than anything else, Savannah Pride gives us a chance to share our beautiful, accepting, fun and quirky home with visitors from all over the world.”
