PINEHURST — Sandhills PRIDE is proud to announce the inaugural Pride month event, PRIDE in the Pines PRIDEFest 2023, in partnership with the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities in downtown Southern Pines. Realty World~The Nikki Bowman Team and Manifest Boutique have come on as Champion Sponsors for the event.
“I am beyond thrilled to be partnering with the Weymouth Center to present this first of its kind event celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride in the Sandhills,” says Lauren Mathers, executive director of Sandhills PRIDE. “We are equally thrilled to have Realty World and Manifest Boutique return as key sponsors for this event. One of the most important things that came out of last year’s program and activity expansion was experiencing just how important having access to safe spaces and community representation and interaction is for LGBTQ+ people in this area. The commitment of Realty World, Manifest Boutique, and the Weymouth Center to this event speaks volumes in support of our mission and our work to make equality for all a cornerstone of this community.”
PRIDEFest 2023 is a grassroots, outdoor, neighborhood festival celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride and community for Pride month and will be held on the grounds of the beautiful Weymouth Center. Featuring an assortment of entertainment, pop-up-shops from local retailers and artists, food trucks and beverage vendors, mental and physical health and wellness information and testing, and a variety of other vendors and activities throughout the day, the festival is focused on uplifting, supporting, and celebrating all of the LGBTQ+ community.
Event sponsorship as well as vendor, artist, business, and non-profit community organization booth spaces are available. All sponsors, vendors, artists, and participants in this event must be supportive members or allies of all of the LGBTQ+ community. This is a fundraiser event for Sandhills PRIDE, an LGBTQ+ advocacy and support nonprofit in the Sandhills region of NC. Sandhills Pride works to unite a visible LGBTQ+ community; celebrate the freedom and equality of all people; enhance the well-being and development of the local LGBTQ+ community through partnerships and support activities; and serve the Sandhills region through social engagement, education, leadership, charity, goodwill, and responsible citizenship.
“When Lauren reached out to me over a year ago to talk about how I could help support her vision of an expanded Sandhills PRIDE serving the LGBTQ+ community here, I knew I wanted to be instrumental in making that vision a reality,” said Nikki Bowman, owner of both Realty World~The Nikki Bowman Team and Manifest Boutique. “We see the challenges that so many LGBTQ+ friends and family face every day. As a business owner in this area, it is important to me and my team that we accept, celebrate, and make space for everyone. We are incredibly excited to make the commitment as sponsors to bring the first PRIDEFest celebration to the Sandhills.”
The event committee has received commitments from musical performers Annelle Staal, Jordan Cranford, Triangle PRIDE Jazz, and local actors from Sunrise LIVE to perform at the event. Nikki Sinay, owner of Let’s Paint the Town Mobile Paint Party, will be hosting an art activity booth and a face painter, sprinkler play area, and cornhole game will be onsite for the younger crowd. All proceeds go to support programs, activities, discussion groups, and workshops held throughout the year including scholarship awards, PRIDE Youth events, Community Care give-back projects, on-line and in personal discussion groups, and expanded Safe Zone trainings. Tickets are: General Public – $15 in advance; $20 at the door. Weymouth Center Members – $10 in advance; $15 at the door.
“Our goal remains to always provide more — more advocacy, more support, more activities together, and more safe spaces for all of the LGBTQ+ community and our allies,” said Mathers. “We are so excited to have the opportunity to bring all of that together in one supportive and loving celebration of Pride in the Pines.”
For Tickets: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/PRIDEFest2023
For information on being a PRIDEFest sponsor or having a booth at the event, contact: Lauren Mathers, executive director – contact@sandhillspride.org
