This year’s festival will be emceed by Casey of Wired 96.5FM, "Home of Hits and Hip-Hop." You can catch her DJ’ing from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. each weekday. She is also a great supporter of the local LGBT community. Featured entertainers at the festival will also include Georgie Jessup, The Damsels, September, and Fusion Dance Team. Georgie Jessup is a three-time WAMMIE-nominated singer/songwriter and a 2004 Indian Summer Music Awards nominee. Georgie encourages audiences to look deeply into their own prejudices and other transgressions. The Damsels are a Baltimore-based band whose music has been described as indie/folk rock/roots music. The Damsels have been playing an eclectic mix of covers and original songs since 2003. September is a Philadelphia-based band that has worked with some of today’s biggest music producers. Their latest compositions "pair bright moments with dark imagery, exuding power without pretense." Fusion Dance Team’s unique blend of high-energy, bold dance moves, with the strong beat of today’s most popular music, gets audiences up on their feet time and again. They recently appeared at the 2007 Philadelphia Pride Festival. Also, Chuckles the Clown will be at the festival all day long, finding children (and adults!) in the audience who need a belly laugh or a balloon animal.

Other attractions at this year’s festival include female impersonators Miss Gay Delaware America 2007, Miss D. Meaner, and Miss Gay Delaware America 2007 First Alternate, Lady Lords, both of whom will represent the First State at the Miss Gay America Pageant in October 2007 in Memphis, Tennessee. Also performing will be Rehoboth Beach favorite Regina Cox of the Baltimore area; sensational drag king Lil K; and dancing diva Miss Delaware Regional 2007 Monique L’Amour. The recently crowned Miss Delaware Pride and Miss Rehoboth Beach will also entertain. Dozens of vendors will also be on-hand, offering various food, drink, services, temporary tattoos, clothing, jewelry, books, and other items. Many regional LGBT groups will also have tables at the festival, including political groups, churches, and community organizations, plus many other activities. Statewide elected officials have also been invited to speak at the festival, and there will be give-aways and raffles throughout the day. As you can see, the eleventh Annual Delaware Pride Festival will be packed with non-stop entertainment and excitement.

The Delaware Pride festival, as always, is free, family-friendly, and open to all members of the regional LGBT community and their allies. Each year, the festival draws thousands of visitors from the beach area, northern Delaware, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and other parts of the United States. Why not join in the fun? Enjoy fourteen different entertainers and almost sixty vendors. Visit with old friends, make some new friends, and find out how you can become more involved in the Delaware LGBT community. Parking will be available on-site for a nominal fee, and shuttle parking is available. You can also catch a FREE bus ride from the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center to the festival grounds. There will not be an ATM on the park grounds this year, so you may want to bring cash with you to the festival. This year’s festival is sponsored by Equality Sponsors: CAMP Rehoboth, Diamond State Financial Group, ID Lube, and Safeway. Also, please note that the festival is held come rain or come shine.

There are many ways you can become involved in this year’s festival as an individual, business, or organization. You can volunteer at this year’s festival by contacting eric@delawarepride.org. You can reserve a vendor’s spot at the festival and represent your business or organization live and in-person to the region’s LGBT community. Vendor applications are available at the Delaware Pride website, www.delaware- pride.org. Your business or organization can become a Delaware Pride Supporter. Supporters, for a small annual donation, receive their logo and a link to their website on a special page of the Delaware Pride website. For more information, visit www.delawarepride.org. Finally, you can make a one-time donation to help defray the costs of the 2007 festival. Delaware Pride is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation is tax-deductible. For more information about making a personal or business donation toward festival expenses, contact eric@delawarepride.org. You can also help by spreading the word about this year’s fabulous festival on September 15!

The yearly festival is organized by Delaware Pride. According to its mission statement, the organization "is dedicated to creating a more visible and united LGBT community through outreach, education, and referrals." The Pride Festival is the state’s single largest annual gathering of LGBT persons and their allies. Throughout the year, Delaware Pride keeps busy not only with festival planning, but with Bingo-a-Go-Go and other social, fundraising, community interest, and networking events and activities. Currently, Delaware Pride is working to increase its membership, and its updated website has attracted thousands of visitors and garnered rave reviews. Visit www.delawarepride.org to find out more about the organization, to advertise your local business, or to see which local businesses support our community. Also, Delaware Pride is expanding with various committees including fundraising, membership, and festival committees, so see how you can become involved! There really is something for everyone.

Delaware Pride began over eleven years ago, spawned from a conversation among four friends about the need for a more visible and cohesive LGBT Delaware community. The initially half-serious, overwhelming concept of an annual Delaware Pride Festival quickly blossomed into reality through the community’s generous support and the tireless involvement of numerous volunteers. The organization was officially formed on April 29, 1997. For a few years, the annual festival was held in Wilmington’s Rodney Square. Then, several years ago, it relocated to Gordons Pond State Park in Rehoboth, in order to have a larger venue that was more easily accessible to all Delaware citizens and regional travelers. Since the first festival in Wilmington, which drew only a few hundred attendees and featured about a dozen vendors, it has grown exponentially and has received thousands of visitors, showcasing top-notch entertainers, vendors, and local LGBT organizations.

Delaware Pride is open to all LGBT Delawareans and their allies, holding monthly meetings in Newark and working toward sponsoring more meetings and events in central and southern Delaware. If you would like to become a member of Delaware Pride or if you want to find out how to get involved, visit the Delaware Pride table at this year’s festival. You can contact the organization through www.delawarepride.org or call the Voice-Mail & Events Line at 302-378-6524. Helping hands and new ideas are always welcome! We’ll see you at this year’s Delaware Pride Festival. Come help us celebrate our eleventh year!

2007 Delaware Pride Festival Schedule

Saturday, September 15 Noon–6PM

Festival Start - Noon

SeptemberBlu - 12:30 PM

Drag Performances - 1:15 PM

Fusion Dance Group - 2:00 PM

Georgie Jessup - 2:30 PM

Drag Performances - 3:00 PM

The Damsels - 3:45 PM

Debbie Deb 4:15 - PM

Fusion Dance Group - 5:00 PM

For more information about Delaware Pride or the 2007 Festival, visit www.delawarepride.org.