EDGE Washington

BURLINGTON, Vermont - Mark your calendars and book a room for Vermont’s annual Pride celebration September 21-22, 2012. The festivities, which will be held in September for the first time in order to better include Vermont’s large student population and foliage tourists, will include a cruise on Lake Champlain on Friday, September 21, a parade through downtown Burlington, and a pride festival, NOH8 Campaign photoshoot, and the Northern Decadence Food & Travel Expo in Burlington’s Battery Park on September 22.

The annual Pride Cruise has been a highlight of Vermont’s Pride season since 1993. It is sponsored by Vermont Gay Social Alternatives (VGSA), Vermont’s premier LGBT social organization, and will be an evening filled with dancing and merrymaking featuring hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and entertainment by the House of LeMay and DJ Veena. It will be held on the Lake Champlain Ferry, which departs at 8:00 on Friday, September 21 from the King Street Docks in Burlington. Tickets can be purchased online at www.vgsa.com.

The Pride Parade will start at noon on September 22, beginning at the bottom of Church Street and winding all the way to the Pride Festival site at Battery Park. With students, families, and foliage tourists in town, a record-breaking turnout is expected to view the colorful parade of floats, performers, and marchers of all kinds. The festival itself will last from 1:00-4:00 pm. and include music and entertainment in the Battery Park bandshell, vendors, family, youth and activity tents, and community resources.

Produced by the Vermont Gay Tourism Association (VGTA), the Northern Decadence Food & Travel Expo will take place during the Pride Vermont festival at Battery Park on Saturday, September 22, 12:00-5:00 pm. Northern Decadence will showcase LGBT-friendly businesses from across Vermont and include food and wine samples, a silent auction, cooking demonstrations, and the popular Decadent Cupcake Competition. Tickets are $5 for adults; children 12 and under are free.

A special addition this year is the NOH8 Campaign, which will hold an open photoshoot on September 22 from 1-4pm as part of Pride Vermont. NOH8 is a photographic silent protest created as a response to the passage of California’s Proposition 8, which stripped same-sex couples of equal marriage rights.

For visitors from the Northeast Vermont is only a short road trip away, or to make travel easier than ever Amtrak is offering a special "Visit Vermont" discount of 20% discount through October 31, 2012, a for travel to any Vermont station. Additionally, Burlington International Airport offers service from a number of major cities on airlines such as JetBlue and Delta which have strong ties to the LGBT community.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.northerndecadence.com or http://www.pridevt.com/