Golden Valley Pride Festival Canceled, Will Do Virtual Celebration
Another local festival has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Golden Valley Pride Festival planning committee has canceled the 2020 event “after careful consideration and out of an abundance of caution.”
The 5th annual Golden Valley Pride Festival was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 13 and then postponed to Aug. 29. There are no plans to reschedule the 2020 event, officials said.
The festival began in 2016 and was the first suburban Pride festival in Minnesota. It attracted 5,000 attendees each year.
Pride Festival Moves to Virtual Celebration
Golden Valley Pride Festival held last year
To make up for the loss of a community-wide gathering, organizers plan to hold a virtual celebration throughout June. The Golden Valley Pride Festival website and its social media channels will offer activities, including printable coloring pages, drag queen story hour and photo submissions to help community members celebrate.
“The Golden Valley Pride Festival was born five years ago out of a love for our city and an interest in celebrating the growing diversity we see in our community. That love and support continues to grow and is more important this year than ever before,” said Fernando Urbina, last year’s team chair of the event.
According to census data, more gay couples, married or unmarried, reside in Golden Valley than any other city in Minnesota. In the 2010 census, 22 out of every 1,000 Golden Valley households, or 2.2 percent, self-identified as gay. Pride festival organizers say that number could even be 15 percent higher because some households chose not to identify themselves.
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