The Pride Vermont Committee announced its plans today for the state’s annual Pride Vermont celebration, scheduled for September 21-22, 2012. The festivities, which will be held in September for the first time in order to better include Vermont’s large student population and foliage tourists, will include a cruise on Lake Champlain on Friday, September 21, a parade through downtown Burlington, and a pride festival, NOH8 Campaign photoshoot, and the Northern Decadence Food Travel Expo in Burlington’s Battery Park on the 22nd.
“This year’s Pride Vermont promises to be more vibrant than ever before, with an incredible array of events and activities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and allied people and families to enjoy,” said Madelyn Baer, the Pride Vermont 2012 Director. “We look forward to celebrating Pride with people from all across the great state of Vermont, northern New England, upstate New York, and Canada, and we are honored to host the NOH8 Campaign this year, adding our faces to those from across the country standing up for equality.”
The annual Pride Cruise has been a highlight of Vermont’s Pride season since 1993. It is sponsored by Vermont Gay Social Alternatives (VGSA), Vermont’s premier LGBT social organization, and will be an evening filled with dancing and merrymaking featuring hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and entertainment by the House of LeMay and DJ Veena. It will be held on the Lake Champlain Ferry, which departs at 8:00 on Friday, September 21 from the King Street Docks in Burlington. Tickets can be purchased online at www.vgsa.com.
“Whether you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or a proud ally, this year’s Pride Cruise is an event not to be missed,” said VGSA Director Michael Knaapen. “Join us on the lake – it’s the perfect way to start Pride right!”
The Pride Parade will start at noon on September 22, beginning at the bottom of Church Street and winding all the way to the Pride Festival site at Battery Park. With students, families, and foliage tourists in town, a record-breaking turnout is expected to view the colorful parade of floats, performers, and marchers
This article originally appeared on: http://www.gayapolis.com/news/artdisplay-travel.php?artid=16983