Oakland Pride Expands

Having pushed the event to a later date this year, Oakland Pride organizers expect to see the number of attendees increase to 50,000 at this Sunday's parade and festival, an increase of at least 5,000 from the 2014 event, which was held over the Labor Day weekend.

Oakland Pride has also raised a record $150,000 so far in sponsorships for the 2015 event. The total is $70,000 more than what the Pride board has raised in past years and has helped it retire the $40,000 in debt it was carrying from the 2014 event.

"This year is the first year we actually have been in the black," said Pride board Co-Chair Carlos Uribe. "It is due to the number of sponsors and the dollar amounts we have been able to bring in this year. We are also trying to keep costs down."

With many people out of town for the Labor Day holiday, the volunteer-run Pride board decided to throw the 2015 event a week later. And this year marks the second time since the annual LGBT event was revived in 2009 that there is a parade up Broadway to kick off the festivities.

"For the past couple of years we've asked our audience what can we do to improve Pride. One of the things we heard from Oakland folks was, can you change the date so we can be there," said Uribe.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 60 contingents had signed up to march in the parade, which will commence at 10:30 a.m. from 14th Street in downtown Oakland. One of the larger entrants is expected to be Kaiser Permanente, whose chairman and chief executive Bernard J. Tyson is this year's Pride Partner grand marshal of the parade.

"They have come in as a major sponsor this year. Not just in terms of a cash donation but just a huge amount of support," said Uribe, noting the company helped pay for banners promoting this year's Oakland Pride that went up last week around the city's downtown and Lake Merritt areas.

Marching with the expected 250-plus Kaiser employees will be representatives of the Golden State Warriors. Pride officials would only reveal that the drum line for the National Basketball Association championship team would be in the parade.

"The rest is going to be a surprise," said Uribe.

This year's celebrity grand marshal is R&B recording artist and songwriter Michel'le Toussant. The youth grand marshal is Rafael Johns, a student at Berkeley City College pursuing a degree in English literature who has worked at Youth Radio since 2013.

Also making an appearance in this year's parade will be a leather contingent. It will mark a turnaround from last year when several San Francisco leather groups were reportedly not allowed to march because organizers were quoted as saying they wanted to keep the event "family-friendly." Uribe asserted he had been misquoted and issued an apology.

"I am happy to say the Alameda County Leather Corps is going to be part of the parade," Uribe said this week.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is also planning to have a sizeable presence at the parade. She is also expected to attend the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club's pre-Pride breakfast Sunday morning, where one of the silent auction items is a coffee or tea date with the first-term mayor.

"We are very excited about Oakland Pride," Schaaf told the Bay Area Reporter during an interview earlier this summer. "I think we are going to be expanding it this year. The parade is going to be much bigger."

Although the footprint of the Pride festival will remain the same, organizers said they have rearranged the layout to accommodate the expected larger crowds. One new addition this year is a larger Family and Children's Garden with carnival rides that will take over Kaiser's employee parking lot at 21st and Franklin streets.

"We are expanding the children's area this year and bringing in children's rides as well. Included with the admission fee will be rides, face painting, a petting zoo and pony rides," said Uribe.

Kicking off Pride weekend will be a benefit for DreamCatcher Youth Services Saturday, September 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Center 21 Building, also known as the Pandora Building, 2101 Webster Street. Tickets are $100 and available at http://outfordreamcatcher.brownpapertickets.com.

Also taking place this week is the fourth annual Revolve Oakland Pride Creative Arts and Film Fest. The seven-day-long series, which runs through September 12, features film screenings, open mic nights, fun run, and an afternoon boat cruise Saturday with DJ David Harness. Event and ticket information can be found at http://www.spectrumqueermedia.com/#!revolve-fest-schedule--tickets/c1zr6.

Tickets for the Pride festival cost $10 for adults and $5 for children under the age of 12. For more information about the event, visit http://www.oaklandpride.org/.

The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, September 13. The date corresponds with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and organizers noted that at 7:30 p.m. Temple Sinai is hosting an evening service at the Paramount Theatre at 2025 Broadway just outside the festival boundaries.