Los Angeles LGBT Pride Festival

Let me start by saying: San Francisco has the BEST pride!
But wait… This review is not for San Francisco Pride! OPPS! It’s for Los Angeles Pride.
LA’s 45^th Pride and festival happened during the weekend I was visiting San Diego which was June 5^th-​June 7^th. Since I was in the area I decided to see what the hype was about.
LA Pride is known as the BIGGEST Party events and I have to admit that this event was PACKED!
After looking online and seeing that Tamar Braxton had cancelled her performance BOO! I didn’t really have anything to look forward to other then the food!
I arrived on Saturday before the afternoon and what a huge crowd. They only had one entrance and the line was CRAZZY! They had a line for Pre-​tickets and re-​entry, buying tickets and VIP tickets. I think it would have been smarter to have many different entrances around the area because it was just too damn crowded and totally a pain!
Luckily they had people that were selling tickets outside of the line and I was able to purchase one and get ahead of the line.
I was shocked to see that you have to pay to get into this festival! Like really? At least as for a donation but the pricing to get in was ridiculous!
Price for the event: $ 20 for one day, or $ 35 for two. TOTALLY NOT WORTH IT!
I did like the fact that I was able to see Tinashe I think this was the best thing that I really got out of the event.
The festival had TONS of booths that were giving out tons of free stuff: lotion, hair products, and free Ice cream.
They had a DJ in the back that was playing recent hip hop music and had people jamming!
There were good trucks as well and tons of stations for cocktails and beer.
They also had a Ferris wheel ride for $ 5 which was nice to be able to see the whole event from up high. There was also a free photo booth but the line was crazy line and I just couldn’t dare to stand in it.
I think for next year they should consider:
~The long entry lines to get into the event.
~The prices to get into the event
~More food truck options
~Have all the food trucks in one location.
Overall, it was nice to be able to see how LA Pride festival and parade goes down and in reality I don’t think ANY PRIDE can compare to San Francisco!

My main problem: they either need to sell less tickets and not try cramming tens of thousands of people inside West Hollywood Park, or they can have more security, especially at the main stage. A fight broke out for over half of Tinashe’s set this year, and I left before seeing Kesha (who I really wanted to see) because I couldn’t take another two hours of that. Easily the worst crowd I’ve been in, I expect shoving at concerts but this was too much and nothing was done about the fighting. Plus it was at Pride! It should be a celebration about love, not some Warped Tour mosh pit.
Other than that, I had a good time, and the free night on Friday was really fun. There was a march that went on in the street and there was a much better crowd at the stage — Angel Haze killed it, and she even jumped in the audience to perform the last song! During the day on Saturday, I enjoyed going to the booths, talking to all kinds of people with different stories and backgrounds, and of course seeing what everybody was wearing! Next year I may just get a single day pass, because unless there’s artists you really want to see both days I don’t really see the point.

Los Angeles Pride is one of the biggest party events in West Hollywood. I live a block from Santa Monica Blvd so I love that I am able to walk to the end of the street to watch the parade. It’s fun people watching and the city does a great job of cleaning up very quickly after the festivities.

Huge and super duper crazy. Plan to get there an hour early to sit in traffic and walk from your parking sport to the event. And bring cash and a sober buddy to lean on when you starting getting past 0.08 BAC
Super nice and super fun. And all the clubs in that area go crazy too. I Recommend The Abby and Rage.

I’m not sure the $ 20 for one day, or $ 35 for two, was worth it. On top of paying that huge price just to get past a gated fence, you then must pay a crap load of money on drinks; to top it off, you have to wait in an extra line to get drink tickets, and then wait in the line where you actually want to buy your drinks.
The music artists that played are what ever, they got like 1 artist I wanted to really see and that was all.
The only thing that was good about the festival, was the food trucks; CPK and The Grilled Cheese Truck, but I can even find those for free at the Granada Hills Grubfest.
Although this a review on the Festival, I’ll say the parade was nice. But I’ve had more fun in West Hollywood when it wasn’t Pride, it doesn’t compare to San Fransisco Pride for sure.

PASS!!! Too commercial. Too expensive. You spend $ 35 just to park and get in. Go to Sams instead. Strippers love lesbians.

The parade was great this year! I was happy to be in attendance and lending my support. It was my first time at the LA one, Ive been to the San Diego one a bunch. This was different, but still a blast. We got there early and got a great spot behind the cameras, right where all the action was. I was happy to see so many people in the community and in the government as well, that was awesome. Great turn out, grand time!

This parade SUCKS.
Lame, amateurish and embarrassing that in the creative capitol of the world (Hollywood) this is the best that can be done. Christopher Street West is the organization responsible for this joke.
Floats look like they were created and made by grade school kids.
NOTHING creative about it.
Sometimes there is as much as 10 minutes between floats.
I hope the WeHo City Counsel gets some other organization to produce The LA Gay Pride Parade. Christopher Street West must GO!!!

This will be mine and my Partners first LA Pride. Been to other, so I’m sure they’re all the same. Good times, hanging with friends, go-​go boys, the parade, etc. etc.
Came out here from Pasadena on a Saturday went and had drinks with friends that night and came back for the Parade on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered around Santa Monica Blvd. to watch the parade of the 42^nd Annual Los Angeles Pride on the Sunday of the weekend June 8 – 10, 2012. I marched in the parade with the Asian Pacific Islander Pride Counsel and belong to three of their member organizations: Asian Pacific Islander AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT), Barangay, and Gay Asian Pacific Support Network (GAPSN). It was APAIT’s 25^th anniversary so all the member organizations were big, including the three I mentioned plus several other great organizations. When I went to my first Pride parade in San Diego, my friend at the time said one day we’d be marching the parade and this was it! I marched with Barangay and it was really cool because Ongina, from Season 1 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, marched with us following the queens of Barangay.
The Parade is free, but the festival is like $ 20. There’s a long line at the main entrance on Santa Monica Blvd., but there are other entrances that have shorter lines you should scope out like on Robertson. There are lots of food vendors and drink vendors (drink responsibly). People do get their drink on up in there. There’s plenty of socializing, dance pavilions, great music with cool deejays and live music, special guests, community programming, unique exhibitors, and all kinds of activities. The festival was a splash with its first waterslide and pools. I kept dry and had fun hanging out by the booths of the mentioned organizations, checking out the vendors, playing games, meeting new people, checking out the concerts and dancing, and just hanging out with friends and good folks. It was a fun, big party.

I came here for the first time last year because I had to work the booth for my company and had a blast. Everyone here was in such good spirits, but my only complaint was the people who worked the event. the ones that the vendors went to if they had any questions… totally rude.
Otherwise, the parking was only $ 20 and there was an awesome food selection.
Totally worth checking out.

Had MAJOR fun here
First time going to any gay events so I did not know what to expect
Drove up on Saturday from SD
Went too late because the only parking left was $ 20!
Saw Mya in concert. she was really good
I also like the second stage they had with twin girls dj’n
We pretty much danced the night away (like jlo says)
The highlight was seeing Rose from the real L word season one! We pulled up in a parking lot & as I was looking around I saw her standing there waiting on her car
She as super cool coming up to our car & even inviting us to her after party
she talked to us for a couple of min. nice
The entire night was fun. wish I could do it everyday!!!

Pride 2011
Friday — free– lesbian night (duke march, L word people, DJs, house music)
Saturday — costs $ 20 online — all lgbt
Sunday — free– Pride Parade
I love WeHo and I’m a big supporter and advocate for all human rights — doest matter if you’re gay, straight, bi, tri, tran, etc… You deserve equal treatment.
The dance mob I dance with did a flash mob for Friday night and it was so fun. The DJ played her set and then played the songs for our mob. The audience was great — mainly of lesbians, bi women and straight women. It felt like woman Power :)
The DJs were great. Each played a set for 30−60min and then Macy Gray performed. All this was free. Very high energy. And there was an interpreter for the deaf on stage and they were awesome! They signed all the lyrics and danced too. Soooo into it.
Sat — I didn’t go this yr but went previous years. Fun! Lots of booths and speeches.
Sun — busiest day of the weekend. Didn’t go cuz over 4000+ people were going to show and I cannot handle the crowds. I’ve been before and it’s great to see the people who march. You see couples who are married and some that want to (and it’s cute to see the sign on how long they’ve been together). Yes, it can get political.
Parking
A bitch. The worst. Take public transportation. Prices hike up for valet and parking garages (ESP for Sunday) and you can forget street parking (only on Sunday, they close a lot of streets). Carpool or metro.
Check the west Hollywood website to see the road closures and parking situations.
Overall: a good experience for all

$ 40 just to get in?
Ridiculous, confusing layout and no maps?
Another $ 10 – 15 for parking?
What a bunch of elitist bullshit.
I’m sorry, LA Pride, you’re doing it wrong.

Not bad in my book just wish I had more money to do other things. Definetly a little drink of alcohol goes a long way, it just makes everything funner. And what is with getting wristbands all the way at the entrance when I was all the way at the back to get a drink. Eh, but really I thought it was going to be super lame but it wasnt!
I cannot wait until next year! Plan ahead, save accordingly, get there early cause parkings a bitch and stay late!

This year was my first time @ LA PRIDE and I must say I was less than impressed. I’ve been to many a pride festivals in my gayday (not to be confused with hayday) and they are all different in their own ways, but really LA Pride was a just a giant clusterf*ck.
The layout of LA Pride sucks. The main stage is SO loud you can hear anything else in any other area because of the way they have it set up. The Erotic City area was packed to the gills and you could hardly move. They wouldn’t let people pass thru the tents which was ridiculous, but even if you were in the tents, the music was so loud it was almost unbearable (they had to turn it up in order to be heard over the main stage) LA Pride is 20 bucks to get in and its a complete sausage fest. Parking is non existent. But you can valet for another 20 bucks!
ONE GOOD THING?
Lesbos at LA Pride are alot hotter than the Long Beach crowd. Just sayin…

$ 20 entrance fee?
$ 15 pre-​sale?
What? Why is it so expensive to go to LA Pride?
And yet money was never the issue why I never went to Pride before this year. As much as I’m a gay man at heart, I’m not really. And never felt the draw of Pride.
Amazingly, we found street parking right away Saturday night and we waited for our friend who was working at one of the booths to come meet us at a local club. I loved that everyone was wearing «No on H8» tattoos on their cheeks.
The music I heard wasn’t really my style. Deborah Cox? Eh.
And yet, the vibe was different. On any other weekend in WeHo, you got your usual crowd. On Pride weekend, we had the looky-​loos. Normally, there’s a lighthearted almost palpable feeling of sex in the area. But this weekend was hidden away. In embarrassment? But I thought this was the time of year to celebrate your sexuality?
In any case, I didn’t like the crowds. I was mumbling «Oh My GOD!!» a lot and sympathetic folks were giving me a helping hand through the massive press of bodies.
I much prefer Halloween. Much more fun and free!

It’s over… thank GOD… for another year it’s over! Saw Chelsea Handler… (Grand Marshall) on the news… only bright spot of this… eh…thing! What an embar-​ASS-​ment! She didn’t look as thrilled to be there as she did a few nights ago on her show talking about it… let’s watch Monday & see!

Gay Pride is like the begining of summer for most gay people! I LOVE Gay Pride and all it has to offer! The men, the sun the skin the music the alcohol the. well you get the idea!
Year after year my friends and I have attented pride with breakfast and champagne starting as early as 8 am so come the parade time we are pretty lit! ahha but why not it’s a festive occasion!
From the Jesus people to the drag its all a fun weekend.
Lately it has been getting a bit pricey to get in and losing some of its appeal to more str8 crowd. It can also be attributed to the wider acceptance and ability of most gay/​lesbians to walk holding hands without stares (unless you are in 805) or ridicule. I wish the dance venue stayed longer than 10PM but I understand the «noise regulations» (aka dance clubs jealous cuz they can’t pull the same crowd!)
I live in this area so parking isn’t an issue but if you are not from the city parking is a PAIN. plan ahead!

I find Pride Festivals boring and unimaginative and LA’s Pride is no exception. They should rename it the Shame Festival. Pride parades are great if you are coming out of the closet but after you’ve been to a few, they are just plain boring. Period. Unless of course you just want to hook up with another parade goer or two.
My bf and I went to the one last month because he likes the one held in Hillcrest and he wanted to see how this one was like. Parking was not easy, but luckily he has parking karma so we found a spot on Melrose and walked all the way up to Santa Monica Blvd.
If you’ve never been to Pride parade, they basically consist of half naked gogo boys, dykes in bikes, drag queens and corporate sponsors in unimaginative floats. I really find them disappointing because I expect gay people to be more creative. Instead, its the same old same old.
We did get lucky in the sense that we sat near where the Christian protesters were. So it was amusing seeing how the parade goers that passed by would react to the hellfire preaching crowd. Lots of cussing, expletives and lesbians revving up their motorcycles in a loud display. There was one guy who was literally dressed up in hundreds of balloons whom I took a pic of, but he seemed to be the only one who was truly creative.
There’s also a section that’s cordoned off that you need to pay to get inside. They offer tent booths from companies that basically want your gay money. There a sound stage or two where you can dance, but really, dance clubs are much better for that sort of thing. The admission price is a rip off. If I’m going to pay to enter and then pay again to buy stuff I really don’t don’t need, then those tents should be made from red velvet and they better offer a lot more than what they currently do, year after year.
I prefer the WeHo Carnival in Halloween. That’s a lot more fun and imaginative, and they don’t try to rip you off with an admission fee. So if you’ve been to several Pride parades before, then just skip this one unless you are looking to hook up.