Organizers of the Aurora Pride Parade have submitted a letter of intent to expand the parade into a weekend-long festival for 2019.
Indivisible Aurora has submitted to have another parade on Sunday, June 9, 2019.
In addition, the letter of intent proposes expanding the event into a weekend-long Aurora Pride Festival with the parade on Sunday, a kick-off event on the evening of Friday, June 7, and a full day of activities on Saturday, June 8, including a 5K race, a vendor market, an art exhibition, a poetry slam, a speaker series and a film festival.
“The inaugural Aurora Pride Parade is now a celebration for the history books,” said Chuck Adams, founder and executive director of Indivisible Aurora. “I can tell you that our team is already looking forward to a more expansive event for 2019.”
The proposal has received the endorsement of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.
“The parade was an outstanding success," said Irvin. “Not only did it exceed expectations, it helped to bring new levels of unity, energy and pride to Aurora.”
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin greets the crowd during the Aurora Pride Parade June 17. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
Irvin went on to say the event was “well-organized, fun and family-friendly.”
“All along the parade route, I spoke with people — some with tears in their eyes — who repeatedly thanked us for being the host city,” Irvin said. “If there is an opportunity to expand that feeling of pride in our city and inspire people to celebrate and patronize businesses in Aurora all weekend, I’m all for it.”
The city even announced the intent of Indivisible Aurora in a city news release this week.
According to the release, the letter of intent is an administrative procedural step in the city's event planning process.
After a complete application is submitted, it must be approved by the City Council.
