The Pride Festival is on.
The invoice for the 2023 Pride Festival special event permit has been paid, according to Recreation Manager Tim Kelsey during a Monday interview. He said the permit would be issued this week. Later, discussing another special event application, Kelsey said that once an invoice is paid, a permit is issued.
As previously reported, the 2023 Seal Beach Pride Festival will be held from 1 to 8 p.m., Saturday, June 10, in the center area of Eisenhower Park.
This is the third pride event in Seal Beach in recent years.
The pride festival permit application was one of three special event permits that have recently been submitted to the city of Seal Beach. The Sun recently requested copies of all three permit applications.
In a June 5 email, Kelsey wrote that the city had not received permit applications for other events on June 10 in the vicinity of Eisenhower Park. “Special event permits also require a 30 Day lead time to properly process the permit application,” Kelsey wrote.
“We will host 8-9 musical acts from a central stage, interspersing performances with short speaking programs,” according to the permit application signed by Stephanie Wade of Seal Beach Pride, Inc.
The event is expected to have five to six tables at the event.
As for other Seal Beach events:
• The July 3 Band on the Sand is a long-standing, iconic, event in the Seal Beach Community. The event will be held in the park area near the Beach House restaurant on First Street.
The application describes the annual beach party as a “family event with live music, food and Beer Garden,” according to Rosie Ritchie’s application. The live music will be amplified, according to the application.
Food will be provided by the Beach House restaurant and alcohol will be served, according to the application.
Next to the checked box for “additional security measures” were the words “volunteers similar to the Fish Fry.”
Band on the Sand is set to be held from 3 p.m. to dusk, according to the event application that was filled out by event organizer Rosie Ritchie of Beach House at the River.
There will be 20 portable restrooms at the event, according to the application.
Kelsey said the invoice for the annual Band on the Sand event had been sent out.
Also set for July 3 is the Big Bang on the Bay. Organized by the Long Beach restaurant Boathouse on the Bay, the annual fireworks show sells space in the restaurant to raise money for area charities. The event physically takes place in Long Beach, but is easily seen from various locations in Old Town.
Big Bang on the Bay will be held from 5 to 9:30 p.m., according to the permit application.
The application, signed by John Morris, described the event as “local charity groups utilizing the spaces of the park to spend the evening and enjoy the fireworks.”
There will be non-amplified music, according to the application.
Participants will bring their own food, according to the application.
As the Sun reported last week, Boathouse owner John Morris aims to reserve the other First Street park, the one adjacent to Ocean Place, to provide tables for local charities to raise money in Seal Beach. (Which is why the Long Beach business needed a Seal Beach permit for the Long Beach-based event.) Morris said the charities would get 100% of the money.
Community Services Coordinator Anthony Nguyen said that notices for the Big Bang on the Bay application were mailed out Thursday, June 1. Kelsey said the 10-day comment period was still open.
In related news, the Big Bang on the Bay is on the California Coastal Commission agenda for Thursday, June 8.
