{"id":801539,"date":"2026-05-16T22:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T22:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801539\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T22:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T22:33:17","slug":"last-ditch-effort-to-save-long-beach-pride-festival-fails-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801539\/","title":{"rendered":"Last-ditch effort to save Long Beach Pride Festival fails \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A last-minute effort to salvage at least part of this weekend\u2019s Long Beach Pride Festival appears to have fallen apart after organizers declined alternative venues offered by the city, according to Long Beach City Manager Tom Modica.<\/p>\n

As backlash mounted over the festival\u2019s abrupt cancellation, Modica said city officials spent the final hours trying to preserve some portion of the celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working the last 24 hours to offer them different opportunities to bring about 3,000 of their guests into the Terrace Theater and also to do something at Bixby Park on Sunday,\u201d Modica said. \u201cBut unfortunately, I don\u2019t believe they\u2019re able to do those two things.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Long Beach Pride President Tonya Martin was reached for comment on these last-ditch efforts, but did not respond.<\/p>\n

The city shut down the festival on Friday,<\/a> just hours before festivities were set to begin, citing missing permits and public safety documentation. The cease-and-desist letter was issued around 4:30 p.m., less than an hour before Teen Pride \u2014 the festival\u2019s opening event at Marina Green Park \u2014 was scheduled to start.<\/p>\n

The abrupt cancellation stunned attendees, vendors and organizers as crews were already set up.<\/p>\n

City officials said Long Beach Pride failed to provide critical operational plans required for permits, including documentation related to structural engineering, electrical systems, staging and emergency exits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really is about public safety,\u201d Modica said. \u201cWhen you invite thousands of people into a space, it\u2019s got to be a safe space.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Modica said the city had worked with organizers for months and extended flexibility because the festival is nonprofit-run.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, you just run out of time, and that\u2019s what unfortunately happened this year,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He also said organizers changed production companies just days before the event, creating additional complications in the permitting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey changed production companies on Wednesday,\u201d Modica said. \u201cOn Thursday, we had to let them know 24 hours before it started; we did not have any of the sign-offs for structural, engineering, electrical, exiting plans.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Long Beach Pride organizers strongly dispute the city\u2019s version of events.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong Beach Pride is deeply disappointed by the City of Long Beach\u2019s decision to cancel the Long Beach Pride Festival,\u201d Long Beach Pride President Tonya Martin said in a statement Friday, saying the organization believed the required paperwork had been submitted.<\/p>\n

The cancellation has sparked frustration throughout the LGBTQ+ community and among local businesses that rely on Pride weekend traffic. The annual festival, now in its 43rd year, is considered one of Long Beach\u2019s largest celebrations and typically draws thousands of attendees.<\/p>\n

Despite the festival cancellation, the Long Beach Pride Parade will still move forward Sunday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cPride is incredibly important to the city of Long Beach,\u201d Modica said. \u201cWe love the event that happens here every year.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

City officials said the parade will feature 141 entries \u2014 the largest lineup in the event\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A last-minute effort to salvage at least part of this weekend\u2019s Long Beach Pride Festival appears to have…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":801540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,5603,18448,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-801539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-lgbtq","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116586637497485089","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}