Festival to run November 7-8 at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix;

Parade moves to Saturday, November 7

PHOENIX — Phoenix Pride has announced the rescheduled dates for the 40th Annual Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade, with the Festival now set to run Saturday and Sunday, November 7-8, 2020, with the Parade moving from its usual Sunday morning time to Saturday, November 7.

The Festival will remain at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix, and Festival hours will be unchanged, at noon-9 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. The Parade will begin on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Third St. and Thomas Rd., running northbound up Third St. to Indian School Rd.

In addition to the new dates, Pride has confirmed that the headlining performers previously announced for the Circle K Festival Main Stage and the Latin Stage Presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Club Papí will remain unchanged, and all have reconfirmed for the new dates.

Existing Festival ticket holders will be receiving an email message this week from Phoenix Pride’s ticketing partner, See Tickets, to the email address associated with their order, explaining the policies and procedures regarding ticket conversions for the new dates.

“The decision to postpone our 40th anniversary Festival and Parade was not at all an easy one for us, but we are very excited to be able to so quickly confirm new dates for later this year,” Phoenix Pride Executive Director Mike Fornelli said. “We are extremely grateful to our community partners at the City of Phoenix, to our vendors, our sponsors and to all of our managers and volunteers for their support, flexibility and understanding throughout this process. And I am especially excited to confirm that we have been able to rebook all of the top-notch performers originally scheduled to headline the Festival in April, so no one will be disappointed to miss their favorite artist.

“In addition, by rescheduling for the same weekend that was already planned for this year’s Rainbows Festival, Phoenix Pride was already on the calendar for many of our volunteers, guests and exhibitors,” Fornelli added. “It is going to be a smooth transition, and the additional time we have for planning is going to allow us to plus-out this year’s Festival like never before. We’re going to harness this opportunity to build an event that is going to surpass even our existing expectations for our 40th anniversary year, and I am excited to already be working in that direction.”

“The Greater Phoenix LGBTQ community, our friends and our allies, are nothing if not resilient, and while no one wanted to delay this year’s signature events, we are very happy that we are able to announce these new dates, and that our vendors, community partners and our valued presenting sponsors are standing with us through this transition,” President of the Phoenix Pride Board of Directors Mark Leeper stated. “Phoenix Pride is a unique event in the sense that for many in our community, it represents the only two days of the year when they can truly be themselves, and can feel safe and comfortable and welcome in doing so. We recognize what this delay means to our community, and we are committed to finding ways to keep our community engaged and connected in the coming months. Having solid dates and an unchanging headliners lineup for this year’s Festival and Parade, will give our community something tangible to look forward to as we weather the months ahead.”

Tickets for the new Festival dates are ON SALE NOW at PhoenixPride.org.

The presenting sponsor for the 40th Annual Phoenix Pride Festival is Bud Light Seltzer, with Bank of America presenting the 40th Annual Phoenix Pride Parade.

Additional detailed information regarding the 2020 Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade is available online at http://www.phoenixpride.org.

ABOUT PHOENIX PRIDE

Phoenix Pride is the producer of the two largest annual public LGBTQ community events in Arizona: the Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade held each spring in April, and the Rainbows Festival, held every fall in October. Founded in 1981, the organization engages year-round in its mission to unite, educate and engage people and partners to support and empower the LGBTQ community and its current and future allies. Additional information regarding Phoenix Pride is available online at the agency’s web site, http://www.PhoenixPride.org.

Events to be rescheduled for fall of 2020

PHOENIX — Phoenix Pride will postpone the 40th Annual Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade, originally scheduled for April 4-5, 2020, amid broad-based concerns over public health and safety. The events will be rescheduled for the fall of 2020, with new dates to be announced soon.

The organization has issued the following statement:

“Since concerns first arose regarding the state of public health and safety in the U.S., Phoenix Pride’s staff and leadership have been in constant contact with our partners in the relevant local, state and federal government agencies, as well as with vendor and community partners, and we have been closely monitoring the current public health situation.

“While we had hoped to present the 40th Annual Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade as planned, our first and foremost concern is always for the health and safety of everyone who participates in our programs at any level, including our staff, vendors, volunteers, performers and guests.

“Based on the best information currently available, and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, we have made the determination that the best, and safest, course of action at this time is to postpone our 40th Annual Festival and Parade until a date later this year. We are looking at fall 2020 options and will announce new festival and parade dates as soon as they are confirmed.

“We are extremely grateful to all of our partners in making these events possible, including our sponsors, vendors, managers, volunteers, our partners in government and public safety, and especially our local community, without whom we would not and could not exist.

“Our commitment to the community and to our mission remains unwavering, and we look forward to producing a Pride Festival and Parade this fall that will make everyone in our community proud, and that will be worthy of the great milestone that is our 40th anniversary. In the interim, we encourage everyone to be safe and be healthy, and we wish everyone well moving forward.”

ABOUT PHOENIX PRIDE

Phoenix Pride is the producer of the two largest annual public LGBTQ community events in Arizona: the Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade held each spring in April, and the Rainbows Festival, held every fall in October. Founded in 1981, the organization engages year-round in its mission to unite, educate and engage people and partners to support and empower the LGBTQ community and its current and future allies. Additional information regarding Phoenix Pride is available online at the agency’s web site, http://www.PhoenixPride.org.

Centennial, Colorado—Claudia Svarstad and Beckie Harkey of Tucson, Arizona and Denver, Colorado, have been selected to receive the Center for Health and Hope’s 2020 Leadership Award for their extraordinary volunteer service in Tucson, Denver, and around the globe.

The award will be presented during the annual Swinging@AIDS benefit concert on March 20, 2020.  “Their inclusive love of humanity is infectious,” stated the Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer, Executive Director of the Center for Health and Hope.  “Through Beckie and Claudia, people connect with a vision of humanitarian service that knows no discrimination and abounds with compassion.”

Scott Blades, Executive Director of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN), commented, “Beckie and Claudia have a long history of advocacy and support for people with HIV, and we are so fortunate that they’ve continued those efforts here locally since they moved to Tucson.  They have such a heart for giving, and we’re so happy to help celebrate their impact.”

Beckie Harkey (pictured above, left) and Claudia Svarstad (pictured above, right) met in Denver 42 years ago as they were both working in the insurance industry.  They were married in 2015.

For the past 15 years, three matters have been constants in their lives, intertwined in various ways:  community, golf, and HIV/AIDS.  Svarstad’s concern about hunger issues led her to a book about world hunger, which she discovered was written by a fellow Denver resident, the president of nearby Iliff School of Theology.  Moved by those writings of Rev. Dr. Donald Messer, Svarstad set out to meet him and become engaged in the work.  In addition to his leadership on hunger issues, Rev. Messer was also a leader in the global effort to address the growing AIDS crisis.  Within a year of their initial meeting, Svarstad joined a mission trip to India through Dr. Messer’s non-governmental organization, the Center for Health and Hope.

“Seeing women with AIDS, abandoned in front of a hospital that would not accept them, was a profound experience for me,” Svarstad shared.  “When I returned to the US, I couldn’t erase that memory of discrimination and suffering from my mind.  I knew that people with AIDS locally and globally faced stigma and isolation, but it seemed overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure what to do.  And then I remembered a saying: ‘When you don’t know what to do next, just do the thing in front of you.’”

Filled with passion and a desire to make a difference to support people with HIV, Svarstad recalls looking around and noticing what was often in front of her:  a golf ball.  Golf was among their favorite activities.  One of the factors for their career success in the insurance industry was Svarstad and Harkey’s love of golf and the relationships they built with their work colleagues on the golf course.  Exploring how to make a difference in the lives of people with HIV, they proposed a golf tournament to benefit the Center’s programs and services.

Their first “Swinging@AIDS” golf tournament in Denver raised $10,000, and became an annual tradition that grew and thrived.  When Svarstad and Harkey moved to Tucson in 2013 to spend part of the year here, they also brought their passion for golf tournament fundraisers for HIV, and connected with the work of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, which would become a partner with the Center on a Tucson-based golf tournament and concert, jointly benefiting the programs and services of TIHAN and Center-supported programs for children impacted by HIV in Kenya.

This year, the Center will hold its 25th golf tournament benefit.  These events have now raised more than $600,000 for HIV support services in the US and in Kenya.  In Tucson, the Swinging@AIDS golf tournaments and concerts have raised over $90,000 to benefit programs supporting people with HIV in Tucson and orphans in Kenya. 

“Participating in a benefit—whether it’s a golf tournament or a concert—can open people’s eyes and introduce them to challenges and opportunities, to injustices and ways to get involved and make a difference,” Svarstad related.  “Whether it’s women in India, children in Kenya, or gay men here in the US, everyone with HIV deserves to have love and support.”

“Through our involvement first with the Center for Health and Hope, and now also with TIHAN, we have met so many incredible people with a passion to help address the stigma of AIDS and help build support networks for our neighbors in need,” Harkey shared.  “Both Claudia and I have had our share of experiences of seeing discrimination–whether based on gender, race, sexual orientation, HIV status, poverty.   We’ve also experienced how our hearts can be touched and how deeply people can care for each other.   We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to give back and help others see how they can make a difference in simple yet impactful ways.”

After leading 20 golf tournament benefits in Colorado and Tucson, Svarstad and Harkey have turned over leadership, but they continue volunteering and supporting the efforts of new leaders.  Their gratitude overflows.  “We are deeply, deeply grateful to our family, friends from Tucson and Denver, our Women’s Golf League at The Views, and the co-chairs, volunteers, staff, and board at TIHAN and the Center,” said Svarstad.  “Without all of these folks, nothing would have happened.”

The Center for Health and Hope and TIHAN will recognize the couple’s contributions with the 2020 Leadership Award, to be presented at the annual Swinging@AIDS benefit concert.  Featuring the award-winning Heather “Lil’ Mama” Hardy Band, the concert will take place on Friday, March 20 at 7pm at Monterey Court.  Tickets for the benefit concert are $20, and sponsorships range from $50 to $1,500. Tickets available through www.eventbrite.com (search for “TIHAN concert”).  Generous donors have pledged to contribute matching funds for all that the concert raises, up to $10,000.  All proceeds benefit the HIV support programs of TIHAN and the Center for Health and Hope.

Past recipients of the Center’s Leadership Award include Rev Charlie Arehart, Kevin Carmichael MD, Linda Girard RN, and Jon Stetson and Noel Floresca.

ABOUT THE SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS

The Center for Health and Hope (www.centerforhealthandhope.org), based in Denver, addresses the challenges of the global HIV and AIDS pandemic and related health needs in the world through programs of awareness, education, prevention, care, and treatment.  The Center challenges attitudes and actions that contribute to stigmatization and discrimination of persons infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.  For more information, contact Executive Director Rev. Dr. Don Messer (303) 877-1955 or globalaids@gmail.com

Since 1994, TIHAN–the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (www.tihan.org), has been organizing volunteers, businesses, organizations, and faith communities to respond to the HIV/AIDS health crisis.  In addition to HIV awareness and stigma reduction programs, TIHAN helps support people with HIV to live as well as possible.  For more information, contact Executive Director Scott Blades at (520) 299-6647 ext 202 or scott@tihan.org

DOG DAYS OF GLENDALE CELEBRATES A DECADE OF DOGS

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Calling all dogs and the people they love! The 10^th Annual Dog Days of Glendale will be held Saturday, March 7, 2020 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will transform downtown Glendale’s Murphy Park into a playground for dogs and their people. Pet owners and their furry friends will enjoy more than 50 pet related exhibitors, pet blessings, pet adoptions, dog-friendly interactive activities including FREE Doga (dog yoga) classes, Bark Buster Fun Zone, Glendale P.D. K-9 training demonstration, guest appearances from local 4-legged celebrities including “Ranger” and “Incredibull Stella,” pet food sampling, frozen doggie treats, Glendale Eats unique food delivery service to the park and much more.

The Dog Days of Glendale event includes a donation drive for pet food and supplies to benefit Empty Bowl Pet Food Pantry. Visit www.emptybowlpetfoodpantry.org for a wish list of items needed.

Event attendees are encouraged to start at the Historic Downtown Glendale Merchants Association Information Booth located in Murphy Park to pick up a list of the day’s activities. Admission and parking are free.

Event sponsors include the Historic Downtown Glendale Merchants Association, The Astrology Store, Bitz-ee Mama’s Restaurant, Glendale Chamber of Commerce, BigAz Promotions, Bears & More, Glendale Flowers and Gifts, HomePros, Out of the Blue AZ, Ropin’ the West, Papa Ed’s Ice Cream and Signarama.

The event is coordinated by Ropin’ the West, Papa Ed’s Ice Cream and Out of the Blue AZ. To contact the event coordinators, please send an email to dogdaysofglendale@gmail.com or call 480-266-0091.

For the latest information, follow the event at www.facebook.com/DogDaysofGlendale, Instagram.com/dogdaysofglendale, Twitter @DogDaysGlendale and www.VisitDowntownGlendale.com.

Phoenix Arizona, October 1, 2019. Shaneland Arts, an inclusive retail and gallery space, announced today that classes and workshops are now being offered. The classes are both technical and fun, and taught by hand-selected artist teachers. The classes are designed to help professional artists sharpen their craft, give hobbyists an opportunity to satisfy their desire to learn a new skill or those that just want to have fun and be part of a community of like-minded learners.

Local artist teachers have been hand-selected and are practicing artists themselves. Each artist teacher created class programs that will be informative as well as fun and entertaining.

“I am excited to be able to announce our first lineup of classes and workshops. We reached out to the local community of artists for ideas and suggestions and they did not disappoint. We have curated our first of many class curriculums, that adds to our mission of bringing more art and creating into the Uptown area of Phoenix. Whether you are an advanced painter looking to learn new skills, or an amateur, we are here to keep you creating” Says Shane R. McCall, Creativity Coach + Co-Founder

A sampling of the classes offered include: Bleeding Tissue Scarf Making, Paper Mache, Intro to Glass Fusing, Intro/Intermediate/Advanced levels for Oil Painting, Wooden Robot Making, Figurative Drawing, Painting and Mixed Media with Live Model, Collage, Art of Burlesque, Visual Journaling, Em POW! Her, Watercolor and Sand Cast Jewelry. Classes that are available for all ages and all levels, will rotate and new classes will be added continuously.

To join us for a class or workshop. Visit www.shanelandarts.com for the entire line up, call 602-607-5400 or visit Shaneland Arts, 301 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012

About Shaneland Arts: Shaneland Arts is the brainchild of co-founders Shane R. McCall and Mike Stein and located at 301 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012. Their vision is to create an intimate, inclusive space for all to learn and find their inner artist. Shaneland Arts Features an eclectic art gallery — displaying local and national talent. A retail store filled with novelty merchandise, art supplies, and artisan products. There is Creativity Coaching that helps individuals find and express their inner creative genius. Art classes that are taught by curated instructors. Shaneland Arts is the ultimate place for all to feel inspired, invigorated, and respected!

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Historic Downtown Glendale at the 25th Annual Front Porch Festival & Old Towne Marketplace on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Visitors will enjoy a day full of unique experiences all throughout Historic Downtown Glendale. In the Catlin Court District, enjoy activities and demonstrations on the front lawns and porches of the historic homes, turned boutiques and restaurants. In Old Towne, you will find interesting things to see and do inside the historic buildings that are home to independent small businesses. Enjoy fall flavors and delicious treats at many of the area’s eateries. “Many of the shops and restaurants are adorned for the fall season with pumpkins, scarecrows and fall-themed bunting to celebrate the 25th milestone year of the event,” said Valerie Burner, event chairperson and owner of Bears & More.

Begin at the Arizona Information Center Event Booth located at Memory Lane Trinkets and Treasures (5836 W. Palmaire Ave.) to pick up the event map and activity list. Activities, demonstrations and specialty menu items for the day include:

Make and take activity at Bears & More, along with K'Apron Trunk Show and Practically Perfect Craft
Studio

Cookie Decorating, $2 each at Coyote Oaties

$5 Marketplace at Delfina Salon & Day Spa

Enter-to-win an Inversion Table at Evergreen Center of Oriental Medicine

Flower bouquet demonstrations at Glendale Flowers & Gifts

Artisan Demonstrations and Kindness Rock Painting at Memory Lane Trinkets and Treasures: Artisan Demonstrations and Kindness Rock Painting

Artist pop up shops at Out of the Blue AZ

Waffle Cone making demonstrations at Papa Ed's Ice Cream Parlor

Make and Take Ornament for the Glendale Glitters Holiday Tree Trail, Make One and Take One, $2 each at Pink House Boutique

Bread making demonstrations at The Spicery in Our 1895 Home

Specials on Chakra crystal set at The Astrology Store

Make and take at The Tole Shop

There is plenty of free parking throughout the downtown. The Front Porch Festival & Old Towne Marketplace in presented by the Historic Downtown Glendale Merchants

Association in partnership with the downtown business community. For more information, visit
www.VisitDowntownGlendale.com.