Thank You for an Amazing Pride 2024!
Mike Doughty, August ‘24 Newsletter
Cortland Pride this year was back on July 13th at Courthouse Park and it was an amazing turn out! We nearly doubled the number of businesses that were at the event, we had a food truck, we had giveaways, and we have a lot of thoughts on how to make next year even better! Including all of the folks that were there to table, the volunteers that helped with the event, and the folks from the community that attended, we estimated a total of around 375 people were at the event. We are hoping to see everyone back and more folks next year for 2025!
First I want to give a huge thanks to the various folks who helped fund the event! Big thanks to-
The Central New York Community Foundation for awarding us the Cortland Bright Ideas grant.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York
Tompkins Cortland Real Estate
Leonard’s Cleaning & Hobby Supply
Area 51
Burch Barks
Erin Vallely
Other private donors
All of the donations we received went towards covering the cost of the drag show, as well as the rentals for the tents, tables, and chairs for many of our vendors to use. One of the best ways to support this event is to donate so that we have the funds to bring more and more to the festival!
Speaking of the drag show, Noah Phence, Saylix Morrison, and Queen Tessential did a phenomenal job with their second year of coming to Cortland! This year we split the drag show’s two acts with a bit of a longer intermission and the queens also brought some amazing looks and numbers to Cortland. There were some tech issues in the morning, but thankfully the Cortland Repertory Theater was able to step in and help us out! The Youth Bureau also let us borrow their stage for the event, and I’m looking forward to continuing working with both agencies next year to make the drag show an even bigger spectacle. Noah, I hope you and your girls are able to come back and bring the wonder of drag to Cortland.
Some things we were able to add this year include having Smash Me 607 as a food truck, giving folks a way to get some food during the event- which I know was a want we had last year, as well as something we heard a lot of folks wanted during last year’s event. We also had two different giveaways during the event. The first was the gift basket giveaway for folks who signed up for the Center’s Newsletter. We ended up with so many items from community agencies and businesses that we had to break it up into THREE gift baskets! The turnout for the gift baskets was amazing and thank you to everyone in the community that donated towards it, and I hope the three lucky winners enjoy all the swag they got. We also had a private donation of a giant Build-A-Bear Axolotl plush to give out to the winner of our Pride Fashion contest that we had during the drag show intermission. Thank you everyone who showed off their looks, and congrats again to the winner!
While Senator Lea Webb and Assembly Member Anna Kelles couldn’t be there in person this year, they both had folks from their offices to represent them and speak on their behalf. The support from their offices is amazing and I hope to keep inviting them as long as I can.
We got feedback from 31 of the nearly 70 businesses that signed up to be at Pride, and I am looking forward to taking that feedback with us into future Pride Festivals. Many of the things that folks suggested are already on our radar for future years, and I hope to see that 70 grow as much as possible as we continue!
Lastly I want to thank everyone on the planning committee and our volunteers who helped with set up and take down of the event, or who helped walk the queens to and from the park. This event could not have happened without your help, and as this event continues to grow, I hope I can keep counting on the support and help of you all.
Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of summer and remember that Pride is more than just June!