[Source: Najat Omer, Arizona Republic] — You may not expect to pay $5 for a cold glass of cold lemonade unless you’re at a ballgame, but at the seventh annual Rainbows Festival last weekend in downtown Phoenix, patrons knew their money would go to a worthy cause. The annual two-day free festival at Heritage Square Park drew about 25,000 people from around the Valley. Organizers said they raised about $40,000 through drink sales and donated the profits to Phoenix Pride, Equality Arizona, and the Community Church of Hope among other organizations, Don Hamill, the festival’s coordinator said.
Christopher Jones, with Instinct Magazine, believes the willingness of visitors to support local organizations is obvious. “This is our bread and butter,” Jones said. “We like to support our own. Even if we’re strapped for cash, we all want to support the vendors here.”
Sunday was the largest single day of attendance in the event’s history, attracting about 15,000 visitors, Hamill said, attributing that number to another event that coincided with the date of the Rainbows Festival this year, the AIDS Walk 2008. That fundraiser brought an estimated 5,000 people to the festival. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
Downtown Voices Coalition 