Dear Upstate Pride SC Family,
For years, this community has been a beacon of visibility, safety, and joy for LGBTQ+ individuals across the Upstate. Our mission has always been driven by your passion and the collective need for a space where everyone can live authentically and thrive as a community.
Today, we are writing to share some difficult news. After much deliberation and consideration, the Board of Directors has made the decision to financially focus all our efforts on one annual Pride celebration that is held in downtown Greenville, SC and make this PRIDE festival our premier event of the year for all of the Upstate SC LGBTQIA+ community. We have also collectively decided to rename the festival to reflect our entire community, which is held in Greenville to Upstate Pride SC - Colors of Pride. This means that we will no longer be producing a pride festival in Spartanburg in the fall.
Why this decision was made:
This was not an easy choice. We explored every possible alternative including holding town halls with the community, meetings with sponsors, and numerous board meetings to discuss the matter, but ultimately, we had to prioritize the long-term financial health and sustainability of Upstate Pride SC. The primary factors involved were:
● Lack of public interest - The number of attendees for the fall event has dwindled each year to the current point where we lose money holding the event.
● Lack of volunteers - We continue to canvas for and hold information sessions asking for volunteers but there has been a lack of response for assistance putting on the fall event. The amount of effort and people power it takes to put on an event is immense and cannot be done without sufficient volunteers and promoters.
● Feedback from sponsors and vendors - There are not enough attendees to the fall event to make it worth their time (lack of ability to turn a profit) to participate in the event.
● The Colors of PRIDE Festival (Formerly Known As: Upstate Black Pride SC) hosts over 20k attendees and is increasing annually, bringing increased revenue to the vendors and great visibility to the sponsors and the event as a whole. The Colors of Pride Festival reflects the collective commitment of the Upstate LGBTQ+ community, with residents across the region showing up year after year through both attendance and volunteerism.
We understand that this may come as a disappointment. For many of us, we are torn by the fact that it was Spartanburg who originally started holding Pride festivals and supported the event from the beginning. We will always tell the history of how Upstate Pride SC began and the roots of the organization, but ultimately, we must make decisions based on a positive impact for all of the Upstate community, not just Greenville and Spartanburg.
What this means for you:
We will always tell the history of how Pride started in SC and stay true to our roots.
Commitment 1:
While we can’t sustain a festival in Spartanburg, we do plan to continue to have a pride event in Spartanburg each fall. We would love that initiative to be community driven.
Thank you for standing with us through the celebrations and the challenges alike.
With pride and gratitude,
The Upstate Pride SC Board of Directors
We will always put the needs and desire of the community first in every decision we make; even the tough ones.
