Long Beach Post Guides Readers Through Our 40th Pride Weekend

On Aug. 1, 2023, the Long Beach Post’s arts and culture section, Eat. See. Do., published a complete guide to our 40th anniversary weekend. The story walked readers through Teen Pride, two days of festival at Marina Green Park and the parade on Ocean Boulevard, along with tickets, parking and the street closures neighbors needed to plan around.

a weekend packed full of events performances and of course, the annual parade that will engulf Ocean Boulevard in a wave of color.

Long Beach Post

The Post also explained why our celebration landed in August that year. Pride is usually a June affair, and the region’s calendar is crowded. Elsa Martinez, then co-president of Long Beach Pride, told the paper that the board weighed the dates of neighboring celebrations in West Hollywood and San Diego before settling on a weekend that gave everyone room to celebrate.

…so we chose August as the best time to hold our festival,

Elsa Martinez, Co-President, Long Beach Pride, to the Long Beach Post

What the Weekend Held

Teen Pride opened the weekend on Friday, Aug. 4, at Rainbow Lagoon Park from 4 to 9 p.m., with a live DJ, performances and dancing for LGBTQ+ teens in a safe space. The festival followed on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5 and 6, starting at 11 a.m. Grammy Award winner Mya was set to perform both days, and actress and singer Laura León headlined Sunday. The Post also pointed readers to the Drag Dome, where Mayhem Miller, Jasmine Masters and Delta Work were among the queens on the bill.

The parade stepped off Sunday, Aug. 6, at 10:30 a.m. To mark 40 years, we honored 10 grand marshals, and the Post named a few of them, including Mayor Rex Richardson and the Mary Jane Girls, the R&B group behind ’80s favorites like “In My House.” After the parade, Hotel Maya hosted a Pride brunch featuring Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles, which the Post described as the world’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi band.

A hometown guide like this one does real work. It helps a first timer find the gate, tells a family where to park and reminds longtime neighbors that the shoreline belongs to all of us that weekend. Forty years in, we were grateful to have the Post helping people find their way to Pride.

Read the full story at Long Beach Post.