Milwaukee Pride Inc., which organizes PrideFest, announced today that they’ve officially canceled the festival, which was initially set to run from June 3rd-6th.
“After much consideration, we cannot move forward with planning a June 2021 festival without knowing how and when a vaccine will be distributed throughout our community equally,” Wes Shaver, the Milwaukee Pride, Inc. President, said in a press release. “When I first realized there may be rules, regulations and guidelines for entry into a public space, I knew we would not be able to have a June festival. There are serious inequities within our community when it comes to accessibility to health care, medicine and COVID-19 testing. The idea that, hypothetically, someone with quicker or more readily available access to health care resources could attend, while others could not, was not an option. PrideFest is a space for everyone. We cannot have any additional factors that create divides and fractures within our community.”
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Last year’s festival was canceled, along with every other major Milwaukee festival, as a result of the pandemic.
PrideFest’s usual “Health & Wellness area,” which allows community organizations to publicize their programs and services, will be moving online. Participants can submit free listings to the new site and get a spot in a state-wide directory.
Milwaukee Pride Inc. is still hoping to hoping to organize the festival for later in the year, and is searching for alternative dates and, if needed, venues.
