Montclair's Pride Festival postponed due to high costs
Those with the group Out Montclair made a difficult yet necessary decision to move the festival outside of Pride Month.
The Montclair Pride Festival is being rescheduled from June to August due to a number of factors. Organizers have decided the new date for the annual festival will be Aug. 1.
The group Out Montclair says it made a difficult, yet necessary decision to move the festival outside of Pride Month to ensure the festival remains free to all who attend. The group is postponing it to make up about $55,000 needed to pay for expenses.
The group lost a major sponsor, making it difficult to pay costs such as police and fire, emergency medical services, public works, cleanup and help with traffic.
That added security has also proven slightly difficult to obtain because the June 13 date coincides with World Cup games, and a lot of officers or security professionals are already contracted for FIFA-related events.
“Last year, despite the rain, we had 19,000 people come to the town. Before that it was 30,000, before that it was 26,000. So that’s a huge event. And as a small organization, we have to shoulder the cost of the municipality, so it’s been really challenging,” says Genevieve Wrenn, with Out Montclair. “This year in particular, with some loss of some corporate sponsorships, it really kind of made it next to impossible to get the money together in time.”
This will be the fifth year the festival is being held in Montclair.
