By MyChesCo
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Pride 365: A Program of Galaei presents the inaugural Philadelphia OURfest: National Coming Out Parade and Festival/Resource Fair, the first National Coming Out Parade in the United States. OURfest stands for Our Uniting Resilience and these new events are being created to amplify the resilience of our people, our individual journeys in coming out, and how we hold and take up space everyday.
“We developed Galaei’s Pride 365 Initiative to redefine and elevate Pride Month Month in June – and we are excited to do the same thing in October for National Coming Out Day/Weekend,” said Galaei Executive Director and Community Organizer Tyrell Brown (they/them). “Gay Pride and National Coming Out are crucial opportunities for our communities to join together in celebration and reflection, to find family and togetherness, to have access to resources, and to share the love, art and joy that are hallmarks of our community.”
“Pride in June has roots that were in protest and a stand for justice and equality for our larger LGBTQ+ community. We created a march where the entire LGBTQ+ community could participate, march together and raise up our voices. For National Coming Out, we see this is a key opportunity to share and celebrate our collective and individual stories of coming out. The parade allows for our community to experience and enjoy a visual display of how far we’ve come, to watch a moving and powerful show together, and to take a moment to enjoy the story of our coming out.”
They added, “While there are similarities in that both are unifying, joyous, and celebratory, the distinction exist between them in that one is for enjoyment, while the former (“Love Light and Liberation” Pride March) was a public stand for all that we need and deserve from an advocacy standpoint that extends beyond visibility.”
“Galaei is proud to be at the forefront of bringing both Pride and National Coming Out back from the pandemic, but even more so we are honored to help redefine what each of these means to our community now and moving forward.”
OURfest: National Coming Out Parade will take place on Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, from 5th and Market to Broad and Locust. OURfest: National Coming Out Festival will take place on Sunday, October 8, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with resource fair and family zone from 12:00 pm to 5:00 p.m., and last call for mobile bars/food trucks at 6:30 pm.
OURfest looks to make history as the only parade in the country dedicated and inspired by National Coming Out Day. Come to Philly for the parade and festival, but stay for the weekend. LGBTQIA+ community members across the United States are invited to make their travel plans now for three days of events – with a kick-event being planned for Friday and many other events to be announced.
Philadelphia region organizations and businesses are invited to be part of this historic weekend by hosting their own events all weekend long – before and after the parade and festival. Sign-ups are now open for the parade, festival and the weekend.
For more about OURfest and how to sign up for the parade and festival, visit http://nationalcomingout.org/ For a full list of all LGBTQIA+ events in the Greater Philadelphia region on that weekend, make sure to visit https://phillygaycalendar.com/.