Seattle PrideFest takes on Capitol Hill street festival

A Seattle Pride event that showcases Capitol Hill businesses will go on as planned Saturday, but with different organizers.

The so-called Bite of Pride was in question after the city refused to issue permits for the original backers.

Late last week, Seattle PrideFest announced they’d be taking over the event. They’re known for hosting the Pride Parade in downtown Seattle. The festival’s continuation is good news for neighborhood businesses like DeLuxe Bar & Grill.

“For us it’s great ‘cause it’s, you know, it’s Pride and we get so many people up here,” Mark Edmison, DeLuxe general manager, said. “And we’ve been here for 53 years so …”

He said it’s too bad for Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore, the original organizers who have been running this portion of the festival for years. In a written statement, city officials denied them a permit for violating rules during a march earlier this month.

Sierra Hansen is the administrator of the Broadway Business Improvement Area (BIA). She said the original organizers weren’t communicating accurate information to their vendors. BIA advocates for neighborhood businesses and is also the group sponsoring PrideFest to keep the festival going.

“An event like this is great,” Hansen said. “One, it brings people into a neighborhood that they otherwise may not visit. Second thing is, it is a high revenue day.”

So what can people expect if they’re in Capitol Hill this weekend?

“It’s just one of those things where everybody kind of does what they can do and mills around and gets too hot and drinks too much beer and has a good time,” Edmison said.

The event, now called PrideFest Capitol Hill, kicks off Saturday.