Breaking: Capitol Hill Pride Fails to Secure Proper Permits For This Weekend’s Events

As preparations are underway along Broadway on Capitol Hill this afternoon for this weekend’s Capitol Hill Pride Festival March and Rally, we’ve just received a statement from the City of Seattle informing us that the organizers behind this weekend’s street fair have failed to secure proper permits in order to close Broadway to traffic and set up the planned street fair.

Even more troubling is that event organizers, Museum of Legends and Lore (a.k.a Capitol Hill Pride Festival,) were notified on three occasions that their permit did not allow for a street fair type of event.

Below is the full release from the City.  Are the events still happening?  We don’t know. We’ve reached out to the city and organizers for additional information and will update this article as we learn more.

NOTE: The Capitol Hill Pride events are not part of the planned Seattle Pride March, organized by Seattle PrideFest, which will take place on Sunday, June 11th, starting from Cal Anderson Park at 11:00.  This also doesn’t affect the Volunteer Park Pride Festival, organized by Seattle Pride, taking place tomorrow.

 

 

City of Seattle issues statement regarding unpermitted activity on Capitol Hill

SEATTLE (June 9, 2017) — The City fo Seattle issued the following statement in response to questions about unpermitted street closures on Capitol Hill:

The City of Seattle issues permits for constitutionally-protected free speech events. City-issued permits ensure sufficient measures are in place to maintain public safety, meet sanitation standards, and manage the flow of traffic. All aspects of an event – including the presence of tables, vendor booths, portable toilets, signage, and other equipment that impedes the right of way (sidewalks and streets) – must be approved by the issued permit.

Events that violate an issued permit by adding features without approval are subject to recourse by the City of Seattle, including removal and citations.

The City of Seattle issued Museum of Legends and Lore (a.k.a Capitol Hill Pride Festival) permits for constitutionally protected free speech marches and rallies on June 10 and June 11. The event organizers were notified on May 11, June 1, and June 8 that street parking reservation and street closures for tables, vendor booths, portable toilets, and other event set up were not granted as part of the permits issued for June 10 and June 11.