The Schedule is Live!!!
You will be able to participate in GA PPD in multiple ways. The main stream will be on our YouTube Chanel, questions and chat will be open on the stream. The virtual Market and Town Square will be open during all PPD hours with vending booths and a few classes. Also, the Facebook Chat group will be open for conversations.https://www.facebook.com/groups/2923831144384154All of the links will be live on our website www.gappd.org on Saturday, as Georgia PPD opens. Hope to see you there!
Save the Date
We are very happy to announce that Atlanta PPD will be collaborating with Athens PPD to co-host a Virtual Georgia Collaborative Pagan Pride event on October 24-25. More details will follow, but we hope to offer participants an opportunity to join a virtual ritual, participate in classes, watch performers, and shop with vendors while learning more about Georgia Pagans.
Hello lovely folks from Atlanta and beyond!
We are brewing up plans for a 2020 virtual event to celebrate PPD. Plans are still being worked out, so there will be updates to come. We have also reached out to some of our neighbors and are involved in planning sessions, so it looks positive toward a PPD collaborative event with more than just Atlanta. If you are interested in presenting a class or volunteering, please reach out to me through our Facebook page or by email.
Blessings – Lady Arden
Hello All,
I wanted to give you all an update on Atlanta Pagan Pride Day 2019.
Short version: Due to some logistical challenges which have arisen while planning a change in event venue, we have just made the official decision to shift our focus toward planning a full Atlanta Pagan Pride Day 2020, in a new venue. We will NOT hold a full Atlanta PPD in 2019. We are working on plans to have a paired down Atlanta PPD 2019 gathering this fall, which will be much more informal and will not involve vending, but the details of that are not available at this time.
We had really hoped that the plans we were working on would come together in time to make an announcement for a full 2019 Atlanta PPD event. However, we are two months away from our target date, and some of the critical components are still not firm enough to be able to be able to officially announce the event or open up registration for vendors.
Longer version:
As many of you are probably aware, we have been working on finding a larger venue for Atlanta Pagan Pride Day for several years. We have really, really enjoyed the peaceful space and the welcoming nature of the Friends Meeting, but we have definitely stretched the capacity of that space to its limit. Additionally, parking, which has always been a challenge, has become increasingly more difficult over the years. This is in part due to increased street parking restrictions in the area paired with an increase in our attendance numbers each year. The final tipping point on parking was last year when we discovered that the parking lot, that we have been relying on for the past 10 years, was not going to be available to use for future events. While we have gotten pretty adept at folding space to fit people and booths into the event space, ultimately it was the loss of enough viable parking around the Friends Meeting which has made a change of venue an absolute necessity.
Last fall we relaunched the search for a new venue which would check all of the “need to have” boxes and as many of the “nice to have” boxes as possible. I am sure that you can imagine that finding a location which meets all of our space needs, is within Atlanta, and which is within our budget, is quite a challenge. Some of you may have even been involved in past location search campaigns.
Last fall, we thought we had found a great relocation option, and we have been working toward planning for that move. However, we have had a number of concerns pop up which needed to be addressed, and fairly recently some larger challenges have popped up and we are no longer certain that location is going to work out for this year. We do have some viable leads on some other locations, but we are running short on time to pull that switch in time for a full event this year. Planning an event on short notice is possible to do. However, vendors, performers, and class presenters all need time to plan, prepare, and to get events on their calendar.
We are hoping to hold a paired down, shorter Atlanta PPD gathering opportunity for the community, in place of the regular event for 2019. However, we do not have any official plans to announce at the moment.
I will post when there is news to share.
Blessings,
Lady Arden
The Atlanta Community Food Bank has extended their thanks to Atlanta Pagan Pride for donating 937 pounds of food and $50 in gift cards. Way to Go!
The program is available for you to download or view. See you on Saturday! Remember your cans for the food drive.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k51eGe_0RknBVL7p7bRCW3PqgXE-3Czd/view?usp=sharing
So, I usually post my “Thank You” post a few days after settling down from the high of completing a Pagan Pride Day. This year, I am sending out that post, or an additional one, a little early for a special reason.
This year marks 10 year that I have been coordinator for Atlanta Pagan Pride. So, even though we are a week away from what I fully expect to be a great event and are already planning toward 2019, I want to give an early shout out to some special folks who have helped put this event on for the Atlanta community over the past decade. These are the folks, without which, this event would really not have been able to continue on and grow each year. Thank you in advance for this year’s event!
Lady Mehurt & EmeraldDawn
First, big, big thanks go out to Lady Mehurt, who has had many titles over the years but really has been the accomplishment master of many logistics tasks, coordinator of the kitchen, solver of problems, and all-around right-hand woman. And Emerald Dawn who has kept the books kept, made sure the forms signed, helped with vendor shuttling and many other things throughout the day. Both of these ladies have helped with making sure all the big and little things have been planned and making sure that so many other critical things that you don’t see, but that need doing, have been done, for the full 10.
The Ravenwood Tradition
Also, big, big thanks to Lady Maia, Lady Astraea, and all the Ravenwood folks for being sponsors, volunteers, and always having folks who are willing to pitch in and help where needed. Whether it has been a need for a class to be taught, a ritual to be led, more signs to be made, a truck that needed loading, chairs that needed moving, or whatever, they have been willing to jump in and help. That kind of willingness to help is just amazing when you are putting together a big event where there will inevitably be things that need doing. They have truly lent support toward Atlanta Pagan Pride taking place in so many ways over the years that I truly can’t list them all.
The Unicorn Tradition – Donna, Alyssa, Haven, Nee, Ben . . .
Big thanks to all of the Unicorn Tradition folks including Donna, Alyssa, Haven, Nee, Ben, and many others, who have donated and pitched in with pre-event tasks, day of event tasks, and helped in many, many ways from cooking & baking to sign making, kitchen working, help with setting up and taking things down and so much more. Also, being our grove-mates, friends, and family, these folks have lent support to Mehurt, Emerald Dawn and I to do what we needed to do to pull Atlanta Pagan Pride day together.
Entertainers – Arthur Hinds, Spiral Rhythm, and others
Special thanks to our many entertainers over the years, with most special gratitude to the ones who have been part of our event for nearly every one of the past 10 years. Yes, I am talking about you, Arthur Hinds and Spiral Rhythm. Y’all have added the energy and magick of sound, which is truly a wonderful gift.
Bill W. & Crystal
Two folks who have joined us in more recent years, but who have quickly become very, very important members of our team, are Bill and Crystal. I don’t even remember the exact year either of them joined in, but it feels like they have been there forever. You two have lent a lot of help and support and have played a big role in helping to plan out pre-event logistics and in keeping things running smoothly on the day of the event. Big thanks to both of you. Big thanks to Bill who, among many other things, has always been willing to help plot out the map, mark out the spaces, and help early morning folks get to where they need to go. Aside from being willing to pitch in where needed, Bill always seems to be the person with the tool, the truck, the extra light, the program that can help us plot the map, etc. Also big thanks to Bill’s wife Susan, who has been great with pitching in as well, and patient with all of my crazy phone calls and texts LOL! Big thanks to Crystal who not only is great with helping out with logistics and many other things that help us to run smoothly, also wins the award for the cheeriest morning person, or afternoon person for that matter, with Atlanta Pagan Pride! Your smile and great energy help keep us all going!
Others
Big thank you to the many workshop presenters! Thank you to our wonderful vendors, and thank you for everyone who attends and brings cans for the food drive and positive energy to the day!
Volunteers
For the many folks who have volunteered over the years and who have continued to help to make this event possible, you have been, and continue to be, amazing!
Lots of gratitude for all that you have done and continue to do!
Brightest Blessings,
Lady Arden
P.S. We could still really use some volunteers for the day of the event. If you are able, please consider signing up, or just show up and ask what is needed. http://www.atlantapaganpride.org/2018-event-information/2018-volunteer
By the way, I am already making plans for 2019, if you are wondering how you can get more involved with Atlanta Pagan Pride and possibly go from volunteering for a day to being part of our Atlanta Pagan Pride team, it is super easy: # 1 =Show up, then be willing to pitch in where needed, show us that you are honest, dependable, show us you can get along with other members of the team and can be helpful. We could always use help. Want to know what you get in return? Our gratitude J, also, that warm feeling that even though very few people really know who you are or what you do, that you helped to make sure that pagan faiths and practices are more visible in the Atlanta community and that you helped some people to have a great day, or possibly helped them feel less isolated. Also, those who are members of our team get invited to join us for our super exclusive after event dinner, fun planning sessions, and you also get a groovy t-shirt.
Atlanta Pagan Pride Day will be taking place at 701 West Howard Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030 – Saturday, October 20, 2018 – 9AM-6PM – Rain or Shine. This is a free event but we ask you to bring your cans for the Food Drive!
Hot off the press!
Looking for additional information?
Descriptions and Information about activities, workshop, and presenters:
2018 WORKSHOPS
Additional information on Performers:
2018 PERFORMERS
All day there will be wonderful vendors:
2018 VENDORS
Food and drinks are available! Lots to see, lots of people to meet, lots of things to do! Join us on 10-20-2018
Remember your cans for the food bank! Share the harvest – Bring Cans!!!
Big Thank You to our sponsors! The Ravenwood Tradition, The Unicorn Tradition, and Oracle 20/20
Hello Atlanta area pagans! This year’s event will be on Saturday, October 20th, 2018. We will be returning to the Friend’s Meeting, so please make carpooling plans early :-D. Information will be posted as soon as it is available. Rule of thumb is that if it is not posted, I don’t have it available.
Performers: We have two fantastic performers confirmed, Arthur Hinds and Spiral Rhythm! Looking forward to their great music and energy! We will post more as the information becomes available.
Vending: I know many are wanting information on vending. I will be rolling out vending info in waves over the next couple of weeks. However, please know that our vending space is limited and that we do run out of spaces. Additionally, in an effort to host a more balanced event, and to preserve as many mobility needs parking spaces as possible, we will be cutting back slightly on the amount of vending slots available this year. If you are wanting to find a way to get more involved with Pagan Pride, especially if you are not an experienced vendor, I would strongly suggest planning to get involved in another way such as volunteering to help on event day, or in putting in a proposal to lead a class, workshop, or craft activity.
Volunteering: We do have a need for volunteers!
Classes, Workshops, Discussion Panels, and Activities: We are looking for folks who want to share with their community. If you have an idea of something you can teach or lead, I would like to know. Be sure to get your idea together and I will be posting a proposal form on our main webpage (www.atlantapaganpride.org)
Blessings,
Lady Arden
Hot off of the press!
For those who would like a preview 🙂