Magic Festival: A PRIDE Celebration on Sunday, Aug. 18

OutReach LGBT Community Center will host OutReach’s Magic Festival: A PRIDE Celebration on Sunday, Aug. 18, 1-6 p.m. at Warner Park, 3110 N. Sherman Ave.

OutReach Magic Festival pride event for 2019 will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall and the 30th Anniversary of Madison’s first pride parade. There’ll be activities for all ages, entertainment, food and merchant vendors, information booths, and more! We’ll also be focusing on bringing the community together for celebration, healing, and rejuvenation.

The acronym MAGIC stands for Madison Area Gay Interim Committee and was also formed partially in response to Anita Bryant’s anti-gay campaign of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The MAGIC picnic was also closely associated with the local and national gay volleyball league which usually held a tournament in Madison on the same weekend as the MAGIC picnic.

In 2019, OutReach is committed to the ever-growing needs and responses to the community to rebuild pride as a more inclusive event.  OutReach is focused on making a festival more diverse and inclusive of all our various communities. Live music, games, food carts, vendors, and more will be part of it. We hope to heal the divides in the community and that we can come together and start to build new relationships, build trust, and unity.

Other PRIDE events that happen during PRIDE weekend are the Madison Pride Volleyball Tournament, WOOF’s Pride Block Party (held on King St), and FIVE Annual Pride Weekend Events. A music festival for LGBTQ+ entertainment, FRUIT FEST, was created in 2009 takes place in June.

OutReach Magic Festival Coalition Members include the Community Pride Coalition and Perfect Harmony Men’s Chorus.

For more information, please call OutReach at 255-8582 and ask for Steve or Angie. Also e-mail at angier@lgbtoutreach.org