Organizers in Portsmouth have put together the city’s first Pride festival. Scheduled for June 4, the event will take place from 11am – 5pm at Portsmouth’s Festival Park adjacent to Atlantic-Union Bank Pavilion.
Portsmouth Pride’s focus for the inaugural event will be healing. Event producer Kimberly Wimbish of KMK Productions said in an email, “Given the effects of COVID and violence in Portsmouth, the charitable focus this year is mental in the LGBT community and beyond.”
Proceeds from the Festival will benefit Community of Change, a community non-profit specializing in strengthening mental health for youth and adults in the Portsmouth community.
The organization was created in 2016 with the intention of enhancing wellness, extending kindness, and facilitating healing within our community with the goal of providing culturally competent, holistic, and wellness-focused services to the community.
While details of the event are still being hashed out, organizers say the Festival will include music and entertainment, food and drink, and a parade.
Portsmouth Pride is now accepting vendor applications at portsmouthprideva.com
