This article was published on October 19th, 2017
The sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, and the gays were out in full force this past weekend as Atlanta Pride 2017 gathered hundreds of thousands of people from all over the continent to the capital of Georgia and the US south: Atlanta. Whether it was the epic events, exotic locations, colorful crowd, massive house parties, or the pride parade, Atlanta turned rainbow as the entire city welcomed everyone to pride with open arms.
If you have never been to Atlanta, southern gays know how to show you a good time. Atlanta Pride is a must-attend Pride event to put on to your gay calendar with so many fun things to do – you can scale up your weekend, go casual, or just take in at your own pace. New friends will be made because Atlanta is an extremely friendly community.
Atlanta Pride 2017 weekend began with the opening party: Georgia Aquarium Kick-Off. The Georgia Aquarium was a fun, unique venue, to kick-off Pride weekend, with a DJ in the center foyer entertaining thousands of people that come to the event. Bars were open and located throughout the event space, meaning you could also take your drink with you throughout venue. Having the kickoff party at Georgia Aquarium was a great way to see something touristy and meet the locals for the weekend!
The local gay bars, like Blake’s on the Park, Ten Atlanta, Burkhart’s Pub, and others, were in full spirit, going a bit extra with themed events, drink specials, beer gardens, and more with plenty of places to go throughout the afternoon to hang out with friends, meet new people, or venture to if you couldn’t afford the circuit parties.
GA Boy Productions threw three non-stop nights of fantastic events. Heretic was the party on Friday night and it was jam-packed. This party featured a fantastic outdoor space for fresh air with lots of room to party and breath. Jungle, the party on Saturday night, was hosted by none other than Boomer Banks! Jungle was a fun event space with a great atmosphere. Sunday night’s party, Xion, had party revelers was going off all night as people wrapped up the weekend. The DJ’s played amazing music into the early hours of the morning, the performers went all out, and the gear people were wearing was fierce.
Atlanta Pride is one of the few Pride events in North America to have a large-scale, multi-day Pride festival, and attendees were not disappointed. Atlanta Pride Festival was hosted in Piedmont Park, in the heart of the gaybourhood of Atlanta. Open all day Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of sponsors, partners, local not-for-profit organizations, vendors, community organizations, etc. had booths with information and novelties for the all-inclusive, eclectic, and diverse crowd. Atlanta Pride Festival featured a large stage to hear local musicians and performers.
The Atlanta Pride Parade on Sunday was a joyous display of love, rainbows, color, and floats as the parade wound its way through the heart of Atlanta and the gayborhood through Midtown. One of the few Pride parades that puts up barriers to keep people off the street and protect the parade route, Atlanta Pride Parade, for the second year in a row, was reduced in size because it is just too long. Still, the parade was a colorful showing of love with community organizations, sponsors, not-for-profit organizations, etc.
Throughout the year, Atlanta is a city where the party doesn’t stop and guests are always invited. As with most years, the Atlanta Pride 2017 weekend had plenty of house parties, gatherings, and events hosted throughout the city, separate, but a part of the weekend. This seems to be part of the culture in Atlanta – there are always a few really big house parties that attract thousands of people that stay until the sun comes up or the police are called. All in all—the capital of Georgia and the south delivered one sexy pride. When Pride comes to Atlanta, the heat gets turned up hot in Hotlanta.
