The annual Bangor Pride festival will have a new financial manager in 2025.
Bangor Pride, the group that puts on the city’s annual Pride festival each June that celebrates members of the LGBTQ+ community, announced in a Facebook post on Monday that Downtown Bangor Partnership, a local nonprofit, will be the financial agent for next year’s event.
In this role Downtown Bangor Partnership will help collect money and oversee bookkeeping for Bangor Pride’s annual Pride Festival, according to Betsy Lundy, executive director of Downtown Bangor Partnership.
Previously, Bangor-based Health Equity Alliance, or HEAL, held that role. Bangor Pride decided to “gracefully step away” from HEAL, as it’s believed to be “best for both parties,” according to the group’s Facebook post.
The transition is the latest loss for HEAL, which had its state license to distribute syringes taken away earlier this month after the organization furloughed most of its employees. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention suspended the nonprofit’s license to be a syringe service program in the midst of an ongoing spike in new HIV cases in Penobscot County.
As the financial agent, Downtown Bangor Partnership, will help solicit donations for the annual Pride festival, which Bangor Pride can’t do because it’s not an organization, Lundy said. Downtown Bangor Partnership will also provide guidance and security for sponsor organizations that help foot the bill for the event.
“We’re excited to further solidify our relationship and help the event be as strong and as big as it can be,” Lundy said. “It’s an amazing event and everyone is invested in seeing it continue.”
In addition to ensuring Bangor’s annual Pride festival goes smoothly, Downtown Bangor Partnership will also guide Bangor Pride to become its own independent nonprofit, as that’s something the organization has experience in, Lundy said.
“The folks at Downtown Bangor Partnership are incredibly supportive of our vision and we are thrilled to work with them,” the Facebook post reads. “They will provide us the structure we need while also working on building an independent nonprofit for Bangor Pride!”