No Pride Parade This Year

In April, OutHudson announced that the annual Hudson Pride Parade, which normally and appropriately takes place in June as part of Pride Weekend, would be postponed until September. Surely things would be back to normal by then. Today, OutHudson announced the September parade was canceled.    

What follows is the press release that made the announcement:

OutHudson, whose mission is to improve the quality of life and advance the visibility of LGBTQ people in Columbia County, has decided to cancel the “Out of This World” OutHudson Pride Parade and Festival, originally rescheduled for September 26, 2020. The trajectory of the pandemic has been largely unknown, and OutHudson has been unable to safely move forward with organizing the parade. Large crowds from across New York State have historically been drawn to the weekend of events. Keeping local residents and visitors safe and comfortable remains OutHudson’s top priority.

Rich Volo, aka “Trixie Starr,” OutHudson Director and organizer of the original parade in 2010 and every Pride weekend since, stated, “This would be our 10th year of Pride events in Hudson, NY. Pride Weekend is one of the largest single-weekend events in Columbia County and draws visitors from all over the state, and even the country. As important as this weekend is to our mission, we cannot risk the health of our residents and visitors.” OutHudson will continue to fulfill its mission through virtual programming and smaller NYS and CDC-compliant outdoor events.

“The parade is important, and something that everyone looks forward to, but it’s only a part of what OutHudson accomplishes each year,” said OutHudson Director Charlie Ferrusi. “We also organize various social and educational events, for families and the community at large. OutHudson also sponsors an annual scholarship award for local high school seniors. We look forward to safely celebrating Pride next year, June 18-20, 2021.”

Visit OutHudson.com to view archived videos of virtual events that were held in June.