noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - noiZe Magazine Issue 57 August 2008 - Index

PaRTy PREvIEw:
MaRk NELSON’S
gREaT
aDvENTURE
Fairgrounds 'Out @ Night v'
a Benefit for Heritage of Pride
by Jeffery Taylor
Mark Nelson is no stranger to the
party scene. Since 1987, he has
been producing and promoting
events. But it wasn’t until 1998,
when he left his position as manager
of Splash Bar in New York City,
that it became his full-time job.
“Why not get paid to party?” Mark
thought to himself.
Mark Nelson Events has been
involved with such legendary parties
as Saint at Large’s Black Party,
Junior Vasquez’s “Earth” parties,
and Heritage of Pride’s “Dance on
the Pier.”
He also produces a weekly newsletter,
“Mark Nelson Events,” that
gives the 411 on anything and
everything gay in the Big City. “I
used to be so cracked out when
I first started rambling that thing
out eight years ago from my AOL
account. God…” says Nelson, who’s
open about his past bad habits.
“Now it’s been a weekly discipline
for me to do since 2002. It’s part of
my sobriety and also a sort of balancing
act for me to stay focused
and clear.”
On Friday, September 19, Mark
Nelson Events and Heritage of Pride
present the 5th Annual Fairgrounds
“Out @ Night,” to take place at Six
Flags Great Adventure in Jackson,
New Jersey. The park, which usually only
operates on Saturdays and Sundays after
Labor Day, opens its gates at 6 p.m. for
this exclusive private event for GLBT
friends and family.
Last year, over 8,100 people came from
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,
Connecticut, and D.C., making
Fairgrounds “Out @ Night” the largest
private standalone GLBT event in the
USA. The event raised over $100,000 for
Heritage of Pride, which produces the
annual New York City Pride Week.
Heritage of Pride is a wholly volunteermanaged,
non-partisan, tax-exempt,
not-for-profit corporation that organizes
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
Pride events in New York City to commemorate
and celebrate the Stonewall
Riots.
noiZe: How did “Out @ Night” get
started?
Mark Nelson: After going to Gay Days
in Orlando for a few years, I thought,