Cincinnati's annual Pride fest and parade may be cancelled (again) this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but there will be plenty of ways to celebrate on a smaller — and safer — scale this summer, including a pool party.
Cincinnati Pride has designated June 12 and June 13 for a Pride Pool Takeover at Over-the-Rhine's Ziegler Pool. An Instagram post by Cincinnati Pride announcing the takeover explains that the pool isn't hosting private events this year due to COVID-19, but "we can promote for our community and friends to buy out all the public passes when they go on sale and 'take over the pool!'"
In the post, Pride confirms that Ziegler is aware of the takeover.
Ziegler Pool welcomes 50 season pass holders and 125 public pass holders per two-hour-and-fifteen-minute session, and there are three sessions per day on Saturday and Sunday. The post urges participants to coordinate with their friend groups when scheduling their session.
Ziegler Pool's website says that guests must wear masks when entering and exiting the pool, as well as when visiting the restrooms or concession area, and when social distancing not possible.
Session tickets cost $4 per person and go on sale 2 weeks prior to your session time.
Despite canceling the traditional parade and festival, Cincinnati Pride is organizing a number of smaller, safer gatherings to celebrate Pride in June, including Pride Market at the Park on June 27. A collaboration with the Greater Cincinnati Gay Chamber of Commerce, the pop-up market in Washington Park will spotlight roughly 25 LGBTQ- and ally-owned retail businesses that have been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Pride is more than a singular event, an annual gathering or a Facebook photo frame — it is a spirit of resilience and strength that lives in and is celebrated by LGBTQ people," Dustin Lewis, Cincinnati Pride entertainment chair, told CityBeat in April. "Our hope is to focus our work on creating numerous spaces and opportunities for people to come together, to celebrate and to remember where we've been and where we're going next — to be proud of Cincinnati and the people who make this city a more colorful place for all of us to live."
For more information about the Pride Pool Takeover, see Cincinnati Pride's Instagram post below.
