Baltimore Pagan Pride Day 2008
Man I hope I don’t offend people with my review of Pagan Pride Day like I did with Ecumenicon, but I think it’s inevitable 
I will say as a disclaimer though that I am speaking as myself, not as a member of any organization.
I actually had a good time at the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day. I was able to meet several of the local groups, get some pamphlets and information, enjoy some music and drumming. But the biggest problem I saw was that there wasn’t anyone else around. There was a family reunion up on the hill, and some other festival down the hill, but in general we were fairly secluded. It’s my opinion as well as a few others that Pagan Pride Day’s are supposed to be events that allow you get the real word out about Paganism and educate people. But there’s no need for us to educate our fellow pagans, and this honestly felt like just a small gathering of pagan groups socializing and sitting around under the trees.
I have no problems with networking opportunities, but then call it Pagan Networking Day or something. I heard comments from several people about this so I know I’m not alone in this thought process.
A few other suggestions for next year:
- Pick a location that is more accessible by the public. Somewhere that we will have people wandering through all throughout the day.
- More advertisement in the area, not just in pagan shops. Actually I think I saw -one- advertisement on the OHF mailing list, nowhere else. I know that the Grove was not asked to put something up on our website about it, I did not see anything in the paper about it, or on any other mailing lists that I’m on.
- When advertising, definitely list items that people are strongly suggested to bring. Like lots of water, some form of shade and chairs. Lack of water was a huge issue yesterday, and it was very hot, humid, and sunny. I know some water was brought to sell, but definitely not enough. Thankfully the guy from the Interfaith Fairness Coalition was well-prepared and shared water with us (Note: we -did- bring water and shade, just not enough water)
- Allow more time for bands to tear down before scheduling the next band to set up.
- Have a speaker and sound system for things like announcements and raffles. Just shouting is not loud enough for everyone to hear over everything else going on in the park.
- Have a pamphlet in addition to the days schedule that lists all of the sponsors of the event and their contact information. This would have been especially beneficial if we had foot traffic, but since we did not it’s not such a big deal this year. I know a lot of the sponsors had tables, but it doesn’t take much at all to make a 1-page tri-fold brochure that lists events and sponsors.
I do want to note that Kat, who is my Vice Senior Druid and also was the sole organizer for the Baltimore Pagan Pride Day did an awesome job with the resources she had. People just don’t seem to want to volunteer so she was running this thing solo, and even when a few minor hiccups happened she was able to smooth them out in short order. So I commend her on putting the entire day together, because it was very enjoyable.
Another issue I had, is one of our members were collecting food donations for the poor and 1. People were bringing old expired food from their cupboards, and 2. She got yelled at by one of the regional organizers (not Kat, for clarification) for accepting cash donations for people who forgot to bring food because the money was supposed to go to the mother organization for the regional Pagan Pride Days. I find that bogus. If people want to donate money for canned foods to give to the poor, than quite frankly, I consider that above the fiscal gains of any organization.
I finally got to meet my long time online friends from Cassandra Syndrome, Irene and Jason. I didn’t get much time to speak with them since they were heading to another gig, but it was nice just to be able to say hello since we have been talking so long on Livejournal as is. Maybe at another time we’ll be able to hang out more.
My sister was with me and says she has a new favorite band after listening to Cassandra Syndrome. She loves Irene’s hair and wants to dye hers just like it. I thought it was cute. I was able to get her picture taken with Irene so she’s giddy about that.
I took a load of pictures and some videos of them playing. I have to upload all of them yet, but I did get a video up last night. [Edit] Another Video.
I really enjoyed Dragonsong’s set too, and enjoyed playing in their drumming workshop afterwards. I had never heard them before, but am definitely a fan now.
Oh and I won a necklace in the raffle, which I gave to my sister because I felt bad that I didn’t bring any money for her to get a face painting or buy anything at the vendors.
Entry viewed times. Posted in Politics, Religion and Spirituality
