Gettysburg Pride Kicks Off This Month

The 6th Annual Gettysburg Pride Fest will be held June 3-5, 2022 with over 50 different local businesses participating in the family friendly weekend with various events for all ages. Most activities are free admission and the full schedule is at www.GettysburgPride.org

Gettysburg Pride Inc. is an official non-profit 501c3 organization registered with the IRS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and their Bureau of Charitable Organizations, as well as Guide Star. Health, happiness, and all things of love, inclusion, diversity, and peace is our cause.

"We will achieve our goals through organizing community events which will include education, advocacy, awareness, and networking events", says Chad-Alan Carr, Gettysburg Pride Inc Co-Founder/President. More information can be found at www.GettysburgPride.org

In summer of 2017, when a few friends were sitting around wondering why Gettysburg didn't have a Gay Pride Event yet like much of the country does, they decided to organize a bar crawl...in less than two weeks of course. They thought maybe a dozen people would show up. Over 80 people filled the bar at Gettysburg Hotel's One Lincoln. Pride flags, glow in the dark necklaces, and LOTS of smiles with friends old and new filled bars and walked around historic Lincoln Square with PRIDE.

In 2018, even more people showed up as Gettysburg Pride grew to a full weekend of events of all kinds including: education/outreach and free rapid HIV testing and counseling, shopping discounts, NYC style piano bar cabaret and more. Many businesses in town sponsored Gettysburg Pride and covered downtown in pride rainbow flags.

In 2019, not only did Gettysburg Pride do all of the above, but they also added the first ever PRIDE MARCH on Lincoln Square, and they stopped counting at 400.

"That is not bad at all for a small town with a population of less than 8000 residents and for only the 3rd year of Gettysburg Pride, says Carr. "Then when HBO came and filmed here the following month for their pilot episode of their now award-winning series "We're Here", we thought this is getting huge."

Unfortunately, 2020 forced Gettysburg Pride Fest to go virtual, but they did have a full day of online performances and educational presentations about health, religion, counseling, equal rights, and the history of the LGBTQ+ movement. The online event also included a chat session with cast and crew members of HBO's "We're Here".

Last year in 2021, in an effort to be safer during the pandemic, Gettysburg Pride Fest moved outdoors almost completely for events. Gettysburg Pride Fest added vendors for the first time, as well as an outdoor stage at historic Lincoln Square. Around 700 people visited Gettysburg's restaurants, shops, and hotels that day for Pride, and Mayor Ted Streeter proclaimed June to be Gettysburg Pride Month!

Gettysburg Pride Fest will be held June 3-5, 2022 and will feature unique specials around the downtown shops, a social media contest to win theatre tickets and pride swag, 45 vendors around Lincoln Square, live entertainment on Carlisle Street which will be blocked off all day June 4th, educational presentations, health and counseling resources, and much more! Full schedule and vendor list is available on our website www.GettysburgPride.org

"We are also excited to help raise funds this year to bring back the New Year's Eve Fireworks Celebration to downtown Gettysburg!", says Carr.

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