Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - It has been a busy week for Puerto Vallarta's fledgling organizing committee behind the revived pride event celebration "Orgullo - Vallarta - Pride." During a meeting held at SETAC on Wednesday, April 3rd, the celebration was confirmed as being set for May 24th through the 26th.

The City's Tourism Department, led by Director Carlos Gerard and Sub-Director Enrique Tovar, has been very supportive of the event which is aimed at increasing tourism. The 3 day event was created to celebrate the unique culture that has successfully integrated the rich traditions of the Mexican culture with the varied ideas that have been introduced to the local community from almost 60 years of tourism from Canada, the United States, and Europe.

One of the city's distinguishing traits is its large expatriate community - hailing from US and Canada and all corners of the world, including as far afield as Asia, Russia, and Europe. Organizers explain that the LGBT community is just one of the many communities that thrive in Puerto Vallarta.

The organizing committee is very excited by the growing support for an event which started out as a small celebratory parade but has grown quickly to include a formal pride cocktail launch on the May 24th at the Casa Cupula Hotel. The organizers are talking to business leaders to coordinate tea dances on the beach, sporting events, and coordinated pride theme nights at participating bars and clubs.

Christian Gutierrez, one of the spokespersons for the pride event, confirmed tours, hotels, and restaurants are being asked to create special packages to draw visitors from the US looking for last minute deals during the Memorial Day weekend.

"The pride event's main goal is to ensure Puerto Vallarta stays top of mind as an irresistible vacation option this May and throughout the summer. The events committee is not planning a single event, but rather creating a community model that helps lift the city's profile in the competitive LGBT tourism segment," explained a press release issued by Mijo! Brands, one of the companies heading up the event.

The Parade

The pride parade will be held on May 26th. The route will start at the Molino de Agua building beside the Cuale River and travel down Ignacio L. Vallarta St to Lazaro Cardenas, then east to Insurgentes, then doubling back westward south to either Venustiano Carranza or Basilio Badillo, then on to Pino Suarez north to the Lazaro Cardenas Park where the festivities begin at 5 pm.

In order to help with the costs of the parade, organizers will be going around the community to get your support. We will need to pay for additional police to make sure the traffic is correctly monitored, we need to purchase three bull horns, three sets of walkie-talkies, T-shirts for the official Marshalls, pay for a video to be made of the event, a grand stand, and promotion.

Participation in the parade with a float or car is $300 pesos or participation with a walking banner is $200 pesos. We are also looking for sponsorship to cover the promotion and logistics of the event starting at $500 pesos. Registration Forms are available at SETAC on Constitución #427. Forms and fees can be dropped off at Buenflex clothing and RK Supplement on Rodolfo Gomez #130 with Bill Hevener.

We also have the opportunity to do a radio blitz with Group ACIR Radio in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey as of next week. To be able to do this, we need four corporate sponsors at $5,000 pesos each. ACIR will double the money after reaching $20,000 pesos. This will be a huge promotion for Puerto Vallarta and Gay Pride!

For more information visit gaypv.mx.