Atlanta Pride went from park to parking lot as Georgia’s drought forced the festival to move from its traditional home in Piedmont Park to the Civic Center. (Photo by Bo Shell)
Downpours do nothing to diminish drought Atlanta Pride still tallying, expects severe shortfall
The
tale
of
the
tape
isn’t
in
on
Atlanta
Pride
2008,
but
organizers
expect
lower
attendance
and
revenues
for
their
first
year
at
the
Civic
Center.
“We’re
not
going
to
have
any
accurate
number.
We
don’t
even
have
a
best
guess
estimate,”
Pride
Executive
Director
Donna
Narducci
said.
“We
expect
that
it
will
be
down
because
every
situation
we’ve
been
able
to
measure
has
been
down
from
last
year.”
Pride
employees
are
still
picking
through
boxes,
receipts
and
equipment
they
put
into
storage
before
determining
the
final
profit-loss
statement.
Narducci
said
they
would
have
a
much
clearer
picture
of
Pride’s
finances
by
the
end
of
the
month.
It
costs
approximately
$750,000
to
put
on
the
annual
event.
Of
Pride’s
two
new
fundraisers
to
offset
the
cost
of
moving
from
Piedmont
Park
to
the
Atlanta
Civic
Center,
one
was
a
huge
financial
drain
while
another
exceeded
all
expectations.
Pride
lost
money
on
the
Friday
Night
Divas
show.
A
rough
counting
of
the
crowd
showed
500
attendees
watched
Expose,
CeCe
Peniston,
Frenchie
Davis
and
Thelma
Houston
as
doors
were
left
open
allowing
people
to
come
in
and
out,
apparently
without
paying
the
average
$25
ticket
cost,
during
the
show.
“Ticket
sales
were
nowhere
near
where
we
need
to
be,”
Narducci
said.
“It
was
supposed
to
be
a
fundraiser
for
Atlanta
Pride,
but
it
wasn’t
anything
near
that.”
Pride’s
first
poker
tournament
was
an
unexpected
success,
raising
$4,990.
“That
was
hugely
successful
and
from
an
expense
standpoint
it
was
very
cost
effective
as
well,”
Narducci
said,
adding
they
would
likely
expand
the
event
in
the
future.
Pride’s
future
is
certain,
Narducci
said,
regardless
of
the
final
financial
figures.
“What
are
the
odds
of
having
a
Pride
next
year?
There
has
to
be
a
Pride,
there
is
too
much
work
that
has
to
be
done,”
she
said.
“Where
it
will
be?
I
don’t
know.
When
it
will
be?
I
don’t
know.
What
form
it
will
be?
I
don’t
know,
but
there
will
be
a
Pride.”
Atlanta’s
Director
of
Parks
Ken
Gillett
continues
to
watch
the
lake
levels
in
Piedmont
Park
and
wait
for
rain.
He
has
few
answers
for
festivals
looking
to
return
home.
“We
are
always
willing
to
sit
and
talk,
but
what
is
always
frustrating
to
us
is
we
have
nothing
to
talk
about,”
Gillett
said.
“There
is
still
the
drought,
there
is
still
the
watering
ban.
We
have
no
new
information.”
STORMS
BRING
LITTLE
RELIEF
Many
of
the
questions
about
Pride
will
be
answered
when
the
City
of
Atlanta
makes
a
decision
about
large
festivals
returning
to
city
parks.
The
city
booted
all
festivals
with
attendance
larger
than
50,000
people
out
of
Piedmont
Park
in
January.
Both
the
Dogwood
Festival
and
Atlanta
Pride
circulated
petitions
asking
to
return.
“We
don’t
know
how
many
signatures
we
got,”
Narducci
said.
“It
got
packed
away
with
a
lot
of
our
other
stuff
and
is
in
storage.”
Despite
the
hour
of
wind-whipped
rain
that
soaked
the
Pride
parade
on
July
6
and
the
nearly
two
inches
that
fell
a
Sunday
later,
Georgia
is
still
under
the
conditions
that
caused
city
officials
to
evict
large
festivals
from
Piedmont
Park.
David
Stooksbury,
the
state’s
climatologist,
said
Georgia
would
remain
under
a
drought
condition
until
an
extended
period
of
wetter
than
normal
weather
rains
on
the
state.
“If
we
just
have
normal
weather
we
can
expect
the
soils
to
get
drier.
I
can’t
tell
whether
it
will
get
wetter.
I
can’t
tell
if
it
will
get
drier,
but
I
can
tell
you
that
if
we
get
normal
weather
it
will
get
drier,”
Stooksbury
said.
According
to
data
collected
at
Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta
International
Airport,
the
city
is
actually
better
off
than
other
parts
of
Georgia,
reporting
80
percent
of
normal
rainfall
in
the
last
90
days
and
79
percent
of
normal
over
the
past
year.
However,
Stooksbury
warned
that
the
effects
of
the
drought
are
cumulative.
While
the
soaking
rains
of
the
past
weeks
have
replenished
topsoil,
they
have
done
little
to
dampen
deep
soil.
The
deep
soil
is
what
feeds
trees
and
provides
a
steady
stream
of
water
into
rivers
and
creeks.
Stooksbury,
also
an
associate
professor
of
Engineering
&
Atmospheric
Science
at
the
University
of
Georgia
in
Athens,
has
not
studied
the
turf
at
Piedmont
Park
but
said
its
hybrid
Bermuda
grass
should
weather
the
drought
fairly
well.
“Your
Bermuda
grasses
have
a
tendency
to
be
more
resilient
during
the
summer
than
your
cool
season
grasses,”
Stooksbury
said.
“Of
course,
part
of
the
question
has
to
do
with
the
timing
of
the
rain
and
the
timing
of
traffic.
In
the
spring
and
early
summer
...
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