Charlotte Pride prepares for deficit as corporate sponsors scale back
Why it matters: Meredith Thompson, Charlotte Pride's managing director, tells Axios she expects the organization to face a financial deficit heading into their annual parade and festival in August.
The Pride Festival will be Aug. 16-17 in First Ward Park and surrounding streets — a shift from its previous home on South Tryon.
Context: The risk for engaging around LGBTQ+ issues has increased 42% since this time last year, according to GravityResearch insights, as Axios' Eleanor Hawkins reported.
Axios has confirmed companies like Verizon and Walmart are scaling back support in parades across the country.
State of play: Some sponsors have stepped back, while others have chosen to remain involved while keeping their name quiet or have decided to support other programming Charlotte Pride offers year-round.
Charlotte Pride declined to name specific companies that have decreased their support this year, however.
What they're saying: "When a sponsor says, 'I want to support you, but I want to do it quietly and I don't want to be visibly aligned with Pride,' that's sort of hard to hear over and over, because our mission is visibility," Thompson says.
There are also sponsors she has yet to hear back from.
The latest: Mecklenburg County's fiscal year 2026 budget allocated $125,000 in economic development dollars for Charlotte Pride.
Between the lines: Contracts with festival sponsors are often on an annual basis. Some of the sponsors for the upcoming festival include Krispy Kreme, Novant Health, McDonald's, Adams Beverage, PNC Bank and Bank of America.
By the numbers: It costs roughly $760,000 to put the festival on. That's just hard costs, Thompson says. It doesn't include expenses like payroll.
"It costs a lot of money to put on a free event of this size," Thompson says. "It's totally worth it for us and for the city."
The festival generated $15.8 million in total economic impact in 2023, according to Charlotte Pride's website, which reflects data from the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, Thompson says.
The festival also accounted for more than 16,500 hotel rooms.
The big picture: Charlotte Pride is leaning on individual donors and grant funding to continue to host the city's largest annual event that attracts roughly 250,000 people a year, Thompson says.
About 10,000 people have marched in the parade annually in recent years.
There will be a ticketed VIP section during the festival. Proceeds from ticket sales will support future festivals.
Thompson says the goal is to keep the festival and the parade free, but they are considering more ticketed programming for future festivals to help make ends meet.
The bottom line: "I feel like there is such a vibrant LGBTQ and ally community in Charlotte that I just can't see us diminishing or going away," Thompson says. "It's not going to be easy though."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Wednesday is last day to claim Apple Siri settlement money
July 2 is the deadline to file a claim for a piece of Apple's $95 million class-action lawsuit settlement over allegations that the voice-activated Siri assistant violated users' privacy by recording conversations. The big picture: Eligible individuals who purchased or owned Siri-enabled devices between Sept. 17, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2024 could receive up to $20 per device, for up to five devices. Eligible devices include iPhones, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch or Apple TV, court documents show. Lopez v. Apple lawsuit settlement Catch up quick: In 2019, Apple suspended a program that had contractors listening to some Siri queries and apologized for how it handled recordings, Axios' Ina Fried reported. The resulting lawsuit, Lopez v. Apple, filed in 2019, alleges recordings happened even when users didn't say the prompt "Hey, Siri." Apple denies any wrongdoing. Lopez Voice Assistant Settlement claim form How it works: Eligible Apple customers can claim to be a part of the settlement on the Lopez Voice Assistant Settlement site. Zoom in: For each device, you need to claim under oath that you "experienced at least one unintended Siri activation" and that it "occurred during a conversation intended confidential or private." Siri settlement money What's next: A final approval hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2025 in California.
Axios
5 hours ago
- Axios
Johnson faces new GOP revolt on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing an explosion of internal anger among his members over the Senate's changes to President Trump's " big, beautiful bill." Why it matters: The speaker has just days to pass the bill before Republicans' self-imposed July 4 deadline — which will require flipping dozens of "no" votes and overcoming numerous procedural hurdles. "Our bill has been completely changed ... It's a non-starter," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) bemoaned to reporters on Tuesday, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said in a post on social media that he will introduce an amendment to the Senate bill that would delete all its text and replace it with the version passed by the House in May. One House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Axios there are "well over 20" GOP lawmakers threatening to vote against the bill. State of play: The Senate voted 51-50 to pass their own version of the bill on Tuesday, with Vice President Vance serving as the tiebreaker. The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and allocate funding for the president's immigration crackdown while cutting spending on Medicaid, food stamps and green energy subsidies. Zoom in: Right-wing House Republicans are upset that the Senate bill is projected to add more to the deficit than the House version would. "They're backing away from the spending cuts, the spending restraint. They're backing away from the reforms that we think makes the math work," Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said in a post on X. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) noted that Johnson previously committed not to hold a vote on a bill that increases the deficit over a certain threshold, adding that "members will have a decision to make." Between the lines: Johnson told conservative lawmakers earlier this year that they could try to remove him as speaker if he couldn't deliver $1.5 trillion in spending cuts in the final package. "I've never lied to any of my colleagues, and I was trying to emphasize the point," Johnson told Axios in an April interview. The bottom line: Johnson vowed in a statement after the Senate vote that the House will "work quickly" to pass the legislation and get it to Trump's desk by July 4.
Axios
5 hours ago
- Axios
Chicago launches new tourism campaign to play up its "swagger"
Why it matters: The city's first major tourism campaign in three years aims to play up Chicago's "swagger," as Reynolds calls it, and push back against negative narratives about the city and state — especially those coming from the White House. Reality check: Like other major U.S. cities, Chicago is seeing fewer international travelers because of President Trump's travel bans and other federal policies, Reynolds tells Axios. Yes, but: " The other statistic is a lot of U.S. travelers are not traveling internationally as they had in the past several years, so there's an opportunity to try and recapture some of the domestic market to fill those gaps," Reynolds says. Zoom in: Choose Chicago created the slogan after speaking with more than 300 locals. It also consulted with focus groups of regular visitors and those who haven't been to Chicago in a while to learn what should be emphasized. The website features itineraries made by Chicagoans about food, neighborhoods and even a tour inspired by the Chicago-born Pope. Between the lines: Recent marketing campaigns have focused on bringing in leisure travelers, but Choose is also speaking to convention and event planners, international sports fans and locals. By the numbers: The agency's 2024 budget was about $33 million and tourism brought in $20 billion, according to Choose's annual report. Choose spent $640,000 over the last two years on creating "Never Done. Never Outdone," spokesperson Isaac Reichman said. The tourism arm gets city and state money, but also engages in private partnerships. In 2025, Choose has received $22 million from the state, $3.4 million from the city, $5.7 million from MPEA and $3.5 million from private sources. What they're saying: "This isn't just a marketing campaign. It's bigger than that. It's a rallying cry for everything today, our residents, our neighborhoods, the businesses, our workforce and, yes, our visitors," Reynolds said at the press conference. "We're the voice of our city, we're the narrative. We're the ones responsible for saying, and amplifying all things Chicago." Zoom out: The ad campaign will run in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
