Listen to this articleThe first annual Moab Pride, which will be held Sept. 29-Oct.1, is starting to take shape. With activities for people of all shapes, sizes, ages, identities and orientations, the weekend will be filled with all kinds of queer fun. Local bands The Vision, Marinade and Sister Wives, will perform, along with Sister Dottie Dixon as the festival emcee.
The weekend kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 29 with a showing of the iconic film, Thelma and Louise, which was filmed in Moab and released 20 years ago. The film will be sponsored by the Salt Lake Film Center and the Utah Travel Council, and will feature a Q-and-A session after the screening with the film’s producer, Mimi Polk Gitlin.
On Friday, Sept. 30, the fabulous Orange Party will be held at Frankie D’s Bar and Grill where participants are asked, but not required, to wear orange. The party continues all night and pushes the festivities into the Awareness March through Moab on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 11:45 a.m. The march will take participants to the city park where the festival will open at 2 p.m. There is no charge to attend the festival, but there is a silent auction and raffle tickets for prizes.
Local businesses and city officials have been surprisingly receptive, said Amy Stocks, one of the festival organizers.
“Everyone has been so great,” Stocks said. “When we went to the city council, everyone was so helpful and we’re even planning on seeing the mayor and some of the city officials at the festival.”
The Pride events and weekend will go out with a bang with a party at Woody’s Tavern and a special performance by the sexy disc jockey from San Francisco, Ms. Jen Wolfe.
“The purpose of the festival is to get people together and have a good time, but there’s also awareness. We want the community at large to know we’re here and we want other people who are visiting to know that Moab is a great community that is welcoming to all people,” Stocks said. “We’ll have a booklet of all our sponsors and everyone that’s been supportive and it can help serve as a travel guide, of sorts, so that people know where to find queer-friendly businesses in Moab.”
The festival is seeking volunteers and sponsors. For more information about events and how to donate, go to MoabPride.org.
