Motor City Pride's Move to Detroit Nets Mixed Response

The news that after a decade in Ferndale Motor City Pride will move to Detroit this summer caught some in the community off guard, but festival decisionmakers have been considering a change for years.

Organizers of the state's largest gay pride festival said they made the decision to change locations to benefit the festival. They wanted to expand it to two days, increase programming and services and put more into entertainment, as well as limit the exits in order to capture more of the donations. Detroit's Hart Plaza does all of these things, Motor City Pride Chairman David Waite said.

“We’ve been looking at this for a couple years now,”  Waite said. "Last year Hart Plaza didn't have our dates (open for the festival). Three weeks ago, we got a call saying the dates were available for this year. We finalized it at the end of last week."

"There are fewer entrances at Hart Plaza. By reducing the entrances, we'll be able to capture more funds," he said. "We want to raise more funds so we can put (them) back into (the festival)."

Moving the festival, scheduled for June 4-5, to Hart Plaza will also coincide with the 25th anniversary of Michigan's first gay pride festival that was also in Detroit, Waite said. "(The move) points back to our heritage," he said.

There is no official admission price for Motor City Pride, although donations are requested. Ferndale's fees have increased over the years, Waite said, but they weren't the reason for the move. He said they are paying similar fees to use Hart Plaza. "About $11,000 to $12,000," he said.

Ferndale City Clerk Cherilynn Tallman said Ferndale invoiced Motor City Pride $11,952 for the event last year. Since 2001, when Ferndale charged the festival $3,400, it has increased each year. In 2009, Ferndale sponsored the event with a $5,000 donation. Because of the poor financial climate, the city wasn't able to offer a sponsorship last year.

"The Detroit fees are basically the same. We just pay the rental fee, (which) pays for electricity, clean up, pretty much everything. It's a one-stop situation," Waite said. "But the other part that's big is that we're saving on resources, too. We have a whole day to build up before and a whole day to take down after. When you’re a volunteer organization, this is huge."

The fee to Hart Plaza includes Detroit Police coverage, Waite said, although Motor City Pride plans to pay for additional security to work the event.

In addition to site fees, Waite said the festival costs about $8,000-$10,000 to put on. Organizers want to keep costs at that level, but increase the entertainment budget significantly, he said. "Last year's (entertainment) was all local and we spent less than $1,000," Waite said. "By capturing more funds, we'd like to get the entertainment budget up to $15,000 to $20,000."

Entertainment for this year's festival has yet to be determined, Waite said, addding they'd like to bring in some bigger acts. As far as expanding activities, Waite said he's unsure exactly what that will entail. "We know we want to expand the youth programming and the family activities and we know we'll have a much broader range of music," he said. "We’re increasing from 12 hours to 24 hours of music and we'll have two stages. We’ll also have a church service on Sunday."

Ferndale leaders surprised by move

, who has worked with organizing gay pride events most of his adult life and is the organizer of Michigan's first gay pride parade in 1986 (considered the impetus of Motor City Pride), said the decision to move was a surprise to him. “We were caught off guard by the decision, and without any consultation with the gay community leaders in Ferndale,” Covey said.

“Pretty disappointed in the decision,” said Covey, the former mayor of Ferndale and the first openly gay mayor elected in Michigan. “They are leaving a location that made (the festival) very successful. I hope they aren’t trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”

Covey said he told Waite if they wanted to expand the event, they could stretch to East Nine Mile Road. Waite said they looked into it, but the challenges were too great. “We had discussions with the (). We talked with them about expanding to a multi-day festival, but that brought more challenges. It interfered with businesses, closed roads for more days, more challenges,” Waite said.

Covey said his concern isn't with Detroit. He'll still attend Motor City Pride. "I have no issue with Detroit," he said. "The difference is the center of the gay community has been here for the last decade or two. People take over downtown, enjoy the festival, but also the Ferndale restaurants, clubs and stores. (Motor City Pride) runs the risk of losing those followers that enjoy the city downtown. There, it will all be contained."

Still, he added, "I haven't missed a Gay Pride in 35 years. And I won't miss this one."

said he was also shocked when he heard the news. "The decision seemed to have been made before  there was an opportunity to talk them out of it," Coulter said. "But that's a decision they made. If they chose to come back to Ferndale we will most certainly support them."

Response mixed in Ferndale, Facebook chatter positive

"I'm sorry to hear (about the move). That's too bad," said Kevin Rogers, 53, owner of , a retail store geared toward the gay community. "I just think it's sad and it's politics. But I guess it's all about the money more than it is about pride."

He said he tends to do a lot of business the week before the festival. "People buy decorations for their houses (and) pick up pride clothing," he said.

Carmelo Gonzales, 22, of Detroit, said the change of location could be a good thing. "We don't know how it's going to go so I think we should wait and see then go from there," he said.

"I don't care either way," said Jeremy Martin, 24, also of Detroit.

Motor City Pride's Facebook page has been mostly positive and filled with comments of support.

What does it mean for Ferndale?

Covey estimated $1 million was pumped into the local economy during the daylong event. However, Ferndale DDA Director Cristina Sheppard-Decius said that was hard to quantify. "There will be an impact, but we have to remember that it's just one day. We have a lot of events in Ferndale," she said. "We would have liked to keep them here, but they had made their decision."

Waite said he still would like to partner with local businesses in some capacity. "We want to keep them involved," he said. "We're thinking about having different nights, before and after the festival, so attendees could go to Ferndale."

Covey said he wouldn't be surprised if the gay community in Ferndale came together for its own celebration. "I wouldn't be surprised," he said. "And for sure I would be involved."

Waite said he knows some people will be upset and wish the event were still in Ferndale. "They might not come down to Hart Plaza, but we hope they do," he said. "We hope to be as successful in Hart Plaza as we were in Ferndale."

Ferndale Patch reporter Emell Adophus contributed to this report.

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