Charlestown Pride Week is like no other week in the Town, the biggest buildup to the best Parade in the country.
That week-long plan of events, sponsored by the Bunker Hill Associates, will have a few new twists this year – with one of the biggest changes being a ‘Charlestown’s Got Talent’ contest at Eden/McCarthy Park on Thursday, June 13.
Associates President Robert Beckwith said they are very excited to unveil this year’s lineup of events, which starts with Touch A Truck on June 9, and finishes with the annual Bunker Hill Day Associates Breakfast on Sunday, June 16.
“I think people can really be excited about Charlestown Pride Week this year,” he said. “There’s something for everybody and there is something to do every evening. It’s the big crescendo to the Battle of Bunker Hill Day Parade. We have a lot of great traditional events everyone looks forward to, and we have added a few new things to mix it up. The two big events we’re really trying to draw on are the Talent Show on June 13 and the Family Fun Day on June 15.”
The Charlestown’s Got Talent contest came to life last year after the annual concert on Thursday sponsored by Mayor Martin Walsh and the Associates.
Beckwith said Associates member Lisa Collins looked around and thought the event wasn’t as exciting as in the past.
“Lisa suggested that we try a take-off of ‘America’s Got Talent’ from television and name it ‘Charlestown’s Got Talent,’” he said. “The members thought this was a great idea and the general consensus is the event has the potential to be a lot of fun for the participants and the spectators.”
The new talent show will feature a professional sound system set up in Eden/McCarthy Park on June 13 at 6:30 p.m. There will be three judges just like on the TV show, and they will have amazing prizes, he said, for the winners.
To enter, there are sign-up sheets at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, the Charlestown Library, the Charlestown Community Center, the Golden Age Center, and the Kennedy Center. One can also enter by emailing Collins at HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected].
Beckwith said another event with a new twist will be a Family Fun Day on Saturday in Eden/McCarty Park – which will be a conglomeration of traditional and new events throughout the day on Saturday, June 15.
He said the idea came from the old-fashioned Block Party he hosted when he was the Chief Marshal of the Parade two years ago. Building on that, he said the Associates fundraising activities and a generous donation from Encore Boston Harbor have taken Family Fun Day to a new level.
At 10 a.m., Edna Kelly’s Doll Carriage Parade will start the day with their annual costume contest and doll carriage spectacular. It is one of the longest continuous events held during Pride Week, and it will continue as tradition dictates.
After that, another tradition will hit the park when the Bunker Hillbillies will take the stage from noon to 1 p.m. That will be followed by Elvis impersonator Anthony Nett from 1-2 p.m., and then the Southern Voice Band from Connecticut will fill out the 2-5 p.m. slot.
There will also be plenty of food, with Blackmoor Restaurant, the Grasshopper Café and Monument Restaurant stepping up so far. For the kids, there will be games and lots of goodies in a carnival-like atmosphere.
Look for a full-schedule in the coming weeks, but other favorites will include:
•Charlestown Pride March Against Drugs, June 10, 6 p.m.
•5th annual Peter Looney Night at Peter Looney Park, June 11, 6 p.m.
•Bunker Hill Associates Family Feud at the Knights Hall, June 12, 7 p.m.
•Bunker Hill Flag Raising at City Hall, June 14, noon.
•Concert on the Monument, June 15, 6 p.m.