Tulsa Pride: Better than ever

by Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief

With record attendance, Tulsa Pride was celebrated once again at the beginning of June. The festivities included a fun-filled weekend of events; a swim party, the festival, parade, live entertainment, a picnic, and much more.

An event of this epic proportion takes a great deal of organizing and planning. As a program of Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq), it takes a large team of volunteers lead by a committee and, of course, a divine leader. That man is none other than our friend, Tulsa Pride Director, Patrick French who we asked a few questions of in follow-up of Tulsa-Pride:

Gayly: What is the most difficult thing about the planning and preparing for a huge event like Tulsa Pride?

Patrick French: Tulsa Pride is an event that represents the diversity in our community. We have a year-long planning process that includes monthly meetings which are open to the public so that the core pride team can solicit and respond to the feedback we get. The most difficult part is balancing community feedback and desires with the budget we have to work with so we can keep the festival free and produce it at the high quality our community wants and deserves.

Gayly: Was this event attended by more or less people as past events?

Patrick French: Each year, the attendance has grown dramatically. Part of that is that our planning team has become so much more advanced in marketing our events through our series of pre-festival pride night events, and through our website, Facebook, twitter, the pride guide and our new smart-phone app. In addition, we’ve seen a lot more people attend as equality progresses across the country, making it easier for people to join in the celebration and see Pride as the fulfillment of the promise of our country’s founding principles.

Gayly: Did you have more vendors or less?

Patrick French: Tulsa’s business community has responded to Pride more vigorously each year. This year, we saw a 125% increase in vendors and exhibitors, and a 150% increase in Parade entries. We expanded and improved our festival footprint at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, allowing our more organizations to connect with the festival-goers, as well as increase the recreational activities like the mechanical bull for adults and inflatable water slide, bounce house, and petting zoo in the kid’s area. The Picnic in the Park saw an increase as well, with the addition of acoustic performances and a “Proud Pup” dog show. Our streamlined online registration process made it so much easier for organizations to join us at the festival and in the parade.

Gayly: Describe how you feel the week before Pride starts.

Patrick French:The week leading up to Pride is always a stressful one, dealing with last minute details, permits, planning, and of course anxiety about the weather.  All of our events involve the outdoors and the weather is always a potential problem, especially with the unusually fierce spring storm season we've had this year.  In addition to the anxiety and uncertainty there’s a sense of completion, a feeling that a year’s worth of hard work is finally coming to fruition.

Gayly: Now that Tulsa Pride 2013 is over, give us a summary of how you think the event went.

Tulsa Pride’s 2013 festival was the most ambitious and also most successful one in recent memory. I credit a few important factors including a very supportive community, which includes terrific sponsoring organizations which are showcased on our website, app and in the pride guide. In addition, OKEQ has built up a very strong volunteer base that comes out in force to support this event, not the least of which are the core volunteers that make up the Pride Team that spends a full year planning the event down to the smallest detail. The most unexpected bonus this year—despite the storms—was the amazing weather on Pride weekend. We could not be more pleased with Tulsa Pride 2013 and can’t wait to get started on next year’s celebration!

Gayly: Final comments you'd like to include.

Tulsa Pride is run by an all-volunteer committee and we welcome all the help we can get! We encourage anybody who's interested in helping Tulsa Pride to join us at our monthly meetings.  Meetings are always open to the public. You can find the dates on our Facebook and on www.tulsapride.org. 

Oklahomans for Equality (OkEq) seeks equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals and families through advocacy, education, programs, alliances, and the operation of the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center.