April 18, 2014 - Santa Barbara, CA — Pacific Pride Foundation, serving the LGBT & HIV communities in Santa Barbara County held it’s 3rd Annual Royal Ball at Bacara Resort & Spa on Saturday April 12, 2014. Pacific Pride Foundation, in partnership with premier event planner-Merryl Brown Events, hosted over 600 guests at the oceanfront resort and acclaimed celebrity hideout. The Royal Ball transported patrons to a fabulous evening in gay Paris, filled with glamour, opulence, magnificent music and alluring guests.
Royal butlers served cocktails and canapés on silver trays beneath a 40-foot Eiffel Tower from which magnificent crystal chandelier. The hottest LA go-go boys entertained the crowd, along with world-renowned stilt performers and the beautiful Flamenco dancer Timo Nunez. LA DJ Derek Monteiro kept the party moving until the early morning hours. Many attendees stayed at Bacara for the weekend, awaking Sunday morning to a world-class gospel brunch on the lawn of the resort’s Miro Restaurant overlooking the shimmering blue Pacific. The sun shone brilliantly, pelicans flew by as Oh Happy Day was sung and guests dined on a fabulous southern brunch, and quaffed the most epic, fully loaded Bloody Mary’s ever seen, replete with sliders, and bacon stir sticks!
The Royal Ball Committee secured underwriting and sponsorships supporting the nonprofit’s goal of $250,000 toward the sold-out event with final numbers still being tallied. Silent auction bids skyrocketed with a ‘walk on part’ on the hit television animated comedy The Simpsons! The highest bidder will be drawn as a character in an upcoming episode. Vacations in Paris, Maui, Tahoe and beyond, along with fine art and jewelry assured the event’s huge success.
Pacific Pride is the largest LGBT and HIV /AIDS Community Service Center between L.A. and San Francisco with offices and staffing in both cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Pacific Pride Executive Director, David Selberg shares “This has become THE party of the year on the Central Coast and I absolutely love that our LGBT Center and community are the hosts.” Selberg continues, “The Royal Ball assures the sustainability of our LGBT youth and elder services, our LGBT sensitivity training in--schools, police departments, senior facilities and more. Our case management and HIV testing programs will all remain alive, thriving and serving literally thousands across the Central Coast; and our Event Team assures that an even more epic Royal Ball for 2015”. For addition Royal Ball photos, go to our event Facebook.