[Durham INC] NC Pride Parade is Saturday at 1pm (Duke Today)

[John Schelp]

NC Pride Parade, Festival celebrates 29 Years

Saturday's festivities include new parade route, 5K run & other events
By Marsha A. Green, Duke Today, 24 Sept 2013 

Duke's East Campus [and Ninth Street] will be awash with rainbows Saturday when the NC Pride Parade and Festival celebrates its 29th year.

The parade is the largest celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
transgender community in North Carolina, and this year marks its 13th 
consecutive year at Duke...
Organizers
 are expecting about 10,000 spectators and 200 vendors and organizations
 for the festival on East Campus, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  
Community leaders and special guests will speak at the grandstand at the
 corner of Broad and Main streets at 12 p.m.; the parade begins at 1 
p.m.

The parade route has been modified due to the closure of West Main Street between Broad Street/Swift Avenue and Buchanan Boulevard 
for the construction of the West Main Street bridge.

The new route takes marchers north on Buchanan Boulevard and around East Campus on 
Markham Avenue to Ninth Street. The parade will loop around the Ninth 
Street business area to Main Street and back up Broad Street before 
retracing its path back to campus via Markham and Buchanan. 

This will be the first time since 1996 that the parade has traveled through a residential area, butNC Pride Parade and Festival director John Short said the response from neighbors has been positive.

"The most common response was excitement that they would be able to watch the parade from their own front porches," Short said.

Also new this year is a NC Pride 5K run, which will circle East Campus, and 
includes several award categories. Winners in each category will be 
invited to ride in a convertible in the parade. Registration is $25 at www.ncpriderun.com. The run begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Patrick Oathout, a Duke senior, has attended the parade since his first year at Duke to spend time with friends and support the community.
Click here to download a larger PDF version of this map.

"The Pride Parade was one early assurance that Duke might be a comfortable 
and easy place to be out," he said. "Many allies attend the parade, 
which is both uplifting and reassuring."

Jules Odendahl-James said the parade and festival are a highlight of the year for her family. 
Odendahl-James and Kelly, her partner of 18 years, have been bringing 
their daughter Sophie to the parade since she was four months old.

"It is a wonderful opportunity to be in a space where we can show our 
daughter that our family is valued," said Odendahl-James, an instructor 
in Duke's theater department. "And it is special for me because it is an opportunity for two of my communities - Duke and the larger LGBT 
community - to come together to celebrate."
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