One of Pennsylvania’s largest pride celebrations is moving to Liberty Park, right on Erie’s lake shore and being aptly renamed to, “Pride on the Bay.”
The president of the North West PA Pride Alliance said the move was considered for a while now, and that Perry Square just becomes too congested to hold the thousands of people the festival sees attend.
“This is an event that, something similar to it, has been happening now for 30 years in Erie. We’re one of the longest continually running prides in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Alex Sphon, president of the NWPA Pride Alliance.
“And the very first PrideFest we had in ’98, we had, like, 300 people show up. So going from 300 to maybe, like, 20 times that over the course of a couple decades is something,” said Mike Mahler, editor of Erie Gay News.
NWPA Pride Alliance announces new location, name for Erie PrideFest 2024
Sphon also said safety played a large role in moving the festival. For pedestrians walking downtown, accessibility for emergency services if needed, and hateful threats against attendees compared to other festivals in Erie.