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By DONALD CAVANAUGH
Thursday, March 27, 2008
It’s a year of anniversaries for the gay and lesbian community of Palm Beach County. The 15th annual Pride Festival of the Palm Beaches will be held Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30, at Bryant Park in Lake Worth. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Compass, the Palm Beach County GLBT community center, which produces the annual Pride Festival.
“We’ve changed the name from PrideFest to Pride Festival of the Palm Beaches to be in keeping with the stature we have achieved during the past 20 years as a community center,” said Mike Zewe, Compass’ capital campaign manager and event coordinator for the festivities this weekend.
The festival opens on Saturday at noon and runs until 6 p.m. An expanded parade steps off at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday from Lucerne Avenue at L Street. It proceeds west to J then south to Lake Avenue and east to the park.
Tickets are available at Compass, Studio 205 (corner of Lake and M) and at the gate. Compass staff and volunteers will be selling tickets on the sidewalks as well. Guests are urged to buy in advance to reduce the crowding at the gate.
Although the festival ends on Sunday at 6 p.m., Compass has arranged with the City of Lake Worth to allow Michael Brown’s family and friends to use the park for a celebration of his life starting at 6:30. Brown, an owner of Roosters bar and a longtime community activist and fund-raiser, was murdered March 21. In addition, there will be a moment of silence at 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday to remember Michael Brown and Bill Elias, another community activist, who died suddenly on March 12.
The emcee for the two days will be Miss Cleo, a lesbian activist, author and spiritual adviser called a “mambo.” Ms. Cleo gained notoriety for her involvement with The Psychic Friends Network, a pay-per-call spiritual counseling service that became embroiled in controversy and lawsuits in 2002. In 2006, she came out in the Advocate and has become an outspoken advocate since.
Assisted by Compass’ Mike Zewe, Miss Cleo will direct festivities and introduce the many entertainers, which will include headliner Jennifer C who wrote and recorded “Open Your Heart” for the soundtrack of “Queer as Folk”; Shelina, a Dominican dance music star; DJ/Producer Oren Nizri; singer/guitarist Teri Catlin; and indie singer Bev McClellan.
“The Pride Festival is the one time of the year when our entire community gathers to show pride in ourselves and in our community,” said Scott Fox, who was named Compass’ executive director at the end of last year.
Among the new offerings this year is a child care service for kids 12 and under provided by the Church of the Palms (Congregational) of Delray Beach. There will also be a tent for teens, where older children can congregate and play games and do crafts while parents stroll the grounds.
Another new offering is the addition of street performers to complement an expanded parade. A juggler, unicyclist, fire-eater and stilt walker will help entertain the anticipated 4,000-plus watchers expected to line the streets along the parade route. According to Zewe, there will be between 35 and 40 different organizations and over 1,000 parade participants, including the Flamingo Auto Group South with some 20 to 25 antique and classic automobiles.
A tried-and-true event that will be repeated this year is the display of quilt panels from the Names Project.
“This year, it will be very hard for us to set up and take down the display,” said Eric Miller, senior HIV testing counselor at Compass and vice president of the Names Project Southern Region, with emotion in his voice. “Michael Brown would normally be here directing and working, but this year he’s gone — senselessly. We’re all very upset by our loss.”
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