In a June 27 editorial, Southern Voice editor Laura Douglas-Brown addressed complaints concerning the city's upcoming Gay Pride weekend in the gay and lesbian newspaper: "We all wish the festival didn't have to move. The question now is whether we are willing to sacrifice our community's largest annual show of force just to make a point. ... Three words: Go to Pride."

Like Piedmont Park's other large grass-punishing events, such as the Dogwood Festival and Screen on the Green, the annual Gay Pride celebration was repositioned from its traditional June home in Piedmont Park to this weekend's three-day event at the Atlanta Civic Center.

As final details are being worked out today, Pride organizers and Midtown business owners are holding their breath and hoping the crowds still come on a holiday weekend. They are attempting to learn from this year's Dogwood Festival, which lost revenue and attendance after a move to Lenox Square and a rainy weekend.

But even as Douglas-Brown made final edits Wednesday on the newspaper's annual Pride issue, she marveled at the misinformation that still exists.

"Some people are still under the impression that the Pride committee made the decision to move it or that Pride got kicked out of the park," she said. "The lack of accurate information was really one of the inspirations for the editorial. So many people are grousing about the grass that they're missing the bigger point. This year is a pivotal year for us politically."

This year's pride theme?

"Your vote, Your rights, Your future."

Despite the logistical headaches, Atlanta Pride executive director Donna Narducci remained optimistic Wednesday: "We essentially had to create a new event this year," she said. "But our volunteer committee has done an incredible job. We're expecting strong numbers."

According to Narducci, Pride attendance can range, depending on weather, from 100,000 to 350,000 over the three-day event.

Still, with the location change this year, Outwrite Books owner Philip Rafshoon is left wondering how much food, drink and staff to have on hand.

Normally, his business at 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue serves as ground zero for the event. But this year, the intersection serves as the 1 p.m. kickoff spot for Sunday's Pride parade instead of its end point.

"It's a tough economy right now, too," Rafshoon said. "Pride weekend is probably 5 percent of our annual sales here. People love to complain, but I'm still hopeful that attendance will be strong."

MetroCafes owner Jeff Landau, whose eateries, Einstein's, Joe's on Juniper and Cowtippers are all adjacent to Piedmont Park, is also cautiously optimistic.

"Our Dogwood Festival weekend numbers were down dramatically this year," he said. "But with our large patios, we're extremely weather-reliant. Pride weekend remains, along with Dogwood, one of the busiest weekends of the year for us. We're staffing as we would for any other year and hoping for the best in a not-so-great situation."

And while admission is being charged for Pride's Friday Night Divas concert featuring pop acts Expose and CeCe Peniston, "American Idol" star Frenchie Davis and 1970s disco diva Thelma Houston ($50 to $17.50) and Sunday night's Star Light drag cabaret at the Civic Center ($5 to $2), Narducci says there are trade-offs. "For the first time, we're able to offer performances inside in an air-conditioned venue," she said.

Nine-year Pride attendee Patrick Smith says he'll be busy as a manager at Burkhart's Pub in Midtown this weekend but still plans to celebrate his 39th birthday Sunday taking in the parade.

"Pride shouldn't just be about its location, especially in this election year," he said.