Annual Long Beach Pride Rally To Kick Off Pride Weekend

May 17, 2017 LBLN

Eric Gray (LBLN Contributor)
Long Beach, CA

This Friday night starting at 7pm, Long Beach Pride Weekend kicks off with the Pride Rally. The event is put on by two Long Beach community members, Deb Kahookele and Stuart Takehara, who attended the Pink Party for many years in Downtown Long Beach. The Pink Party was an annual event which kicked off pride weekend. Throughout time, the event switched hands and at first continued to grow, but then as it was moved from location to location, turnout decreased.

Deb Kahookele reflects on why she and Stuart took on the large task of transforming the Pink Party into the Pride Rally. “My thought process was that Pride Weekend was and continues to be the second largest event in Long Beach and the Pink Party was always a part of that. I wanted the event to grow larger for our community, so it can remain one of the strongest events in Downtown Long Beach.”

The newly branded Pride Rally will be held Friday evening starting at 7pm and going all night until 2am. The event is located outdoors on the Promenade in the heart of Downtown Long Beach at 233 Promenade North.

The Pride Rally will feature Gogo Dancers, a Full Bar by Hamburger Mary’s, Food Trucks, a Drag Show by Jewels Production, and other Entertainment.

“We really wanted to focus on bringing the entertainment value back, with quality DJ’s and a 360 degrees immersive experience, so we brought in two internationally known Grammy DJ’s and other great entertainment.” said Stuart Takehara.