BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh Valley Pride will be free this year for the first time in at least a decade.
And for the first time, the event will be held on the SteelStacks campus in Bethlehem.
- Lehigh Valley Pride will be free this year
- It will be on from 2 to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 at the SteelStacks campus instead of at the Jewish Community Center in Allentown like in previous years
- The event will feature vendors, live music, dance floors and more
Lehigh Valley Pride will be from 2 to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 and feature vendors, live music, dance floors and more.
Lehigh Valley Pride is held by Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. Center Executive Director Ashley Coleman said in a news release that she was “thrilled” the event will be free.
“Pride fosters Queer joy and liberation; we as a community need that now more than ever," Coleman said in the release.
The event cost $10 to attend in recent years. The center’s Communications Coordinator Braden Hudak said the center decided to make the event free because of community feedback.
This is without [a] doubt going to be the best pride that has happened in the Lehigh Valley, I think I would say ever.Braden Hudak, Communications Coordinator at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
Hudak also credited the change to the center’s new leadership. Coleman was appointed to her position in January.
“We're not the same organization that we were at Pride last year," Hudak said. "And I think folks are really going to be able to see that.”
“This is without [a] doubt going to be the best pride that has happened in the Lehigh Valley, I think I would say, ever.”
New location
The center’s Senior Events Manager Christian Orr said the center decided to hold Lehigh Valley Pride in Bethlehem because it's working to expand its reach.
“We're trying to focus on changing the idea that Bradbury-Sullivan only serves Allentown,” Orr said.
Bradbury-Sullivan Center also recently held a Community Day in Bethlehem to build community and listen to feedback from Bethlehem's LGBTQ residents.
Event features
Orr said there will be a full day of live performances on the Levitt Pavilion main stage, and will hopefully end the night with a firework show and a live performance.
They said the center is still working out details for who will perform.
The event also will have various youth programming, which may include bounce houses and a video game truck with TVs and gaming consoles, Orr said. There also will be an archival exhibit inside of ArtsQuest building to celebrate the event’s 30th anniversary.
As in past years, there will be spaces where alcohol will not be permitted. Hudak said the campus’ Visitor’s Center will be turned into an alcohol-free dance floor with a DJ.
Every year, we're making better efforts to make the festival more inclusive, and this prayer space is our next step towards that.Bradbury-Sullivan Communications Coordinator Bradan Hudak
The event will include a prayer space for the first time. Hudak said the center still is working out the details, but it will have mats for Muslim community members to pray and likely will have spaces for people to meditate.
“Every year, we're making better efforts to make the festival more inclusive, and this prayer space is our next step towards that,” Hudak said.
Other accessibility features include ASL interpretation on stage, ADA restrooms, large-print Pride guides and reserved seating for older adults and people with disabilities.
There also will be reserved parking near the festival entrances, according to the news release.
