Montclair Pride organizers hope third time's the charm with Sunday's twice-rescheduled festival
Montclair Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerbille remains optimistic Sunday's Pride festival will go on here at Lackawanna Station in downtown Montclair and for good reason.
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Sunday is National Coming Out Day and Montclair Pride organizers hope lots of people head to the annual festival, already twice postponed over the summer.
But heavy rains from Hurricane Isaias look to continue the wet weekend streak and dampen the fun.
Montclair Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerbille remains optimistic Sunday's Pride festival will go on here at Lackawanna Station in downtown Montclair and for good reason.
"I anticipate that we're going to go forward. Have a wonderful day. We might be singing and dancing in the rain - it never stopped us before," said Dr. Renee Baskerbille, mayor of Montclair Township.
Past events drew thousands of spectators. Organizers say 19,000 showed up during a rainy 2025 event in June. The year before under the June sunshine drew crowds of 30,000.
"In Montclair, we celebrate all of our diversity, and the LBGTQIA+ community is a celebration of humanity in Montclair," said Mayor Baskerbille.
Out Montclair runs the festival and first postponed the original June date due to financial challenges after a sponsor pulled out and staffing shortages. The Aug. 1 rescheduled date also was lost due to more public safety shortages. Sunday's event is now threatened by leftover heavy rains from Hurricane Isaias, now impacting the Gulf Coast.
If it does happen to get a little wet outside on Sunday, the mayor says head inside Lackawanna Station, do some shopping and check out what some of the local businesses have to offer.
"We have little florist shops, food, markets, and farmers' markets here. Urban Natural Homes. I feel like Lackawanna Station has a little bit for everybody," said Maria Taco, an employee at Urban Natural Homes.
Out Montclair leaders will discuss any contingency plans in case the forecast worsens for Sunday but as of Friday afternoon, the twice-rescheduled pride festival is a go, rain or shine.
"We want everybody to come down. Bring your family, bring your friends and just be yourself. Know that you're welcome here," said Mayor Baskerbille.
Out Montclair wants attendees to monitor social media pages for any potential changes or postponements to Sunday's festival
