A-List Pride Fest map: A behind-the-scenes look

​This week's A-List section is loaded with tons of recommended events celebrating GLBT pride, from street concerts to late-night parties to the big festival in Loring Park. In order to honor this, we wanted some awesome art to run as our "big pic" in print. But how does one go about illustrating something as sprawling and diverse as Twin Cities pride festivities?

Enter Kevin Cannon, a local illustrator (and number 93 on our 100 Creatives list) who often draws inspiration from old maps in his work. Readers may already be familiar with Cannon's Twin Cities Rock Atlas, which he also created for City Pages.

However, it wasn't immediately obvious what type of map we would ask him to create. We had first envisioned a recommended walking tour or bar crawl of sorts, but eventually this approach was deemed too chaotic and scattered. Ultimately, we decided on a map that would include venues and happenings spanning the entire weekend, rather than a single day or afternoon.

The resulting effort is an insanely detailed piece that, much like a page in a Where's Waldo? book, is filled with new things to spot each time you take a look. In fact, we challenge you to locate the following:

1.    Two kissing baseball players
2.    A marathon winner
3.    A lady with a snake
4.    Topless swimmers
5.    A gushing cherry
6.    A dude with a rainbow Mohawk
7.    A lady professing her love through a sign

So, are you psyched to celebrate pride on the Twin Cities? Use our map as a jumping off point, visit our online calendar for cool happenings around town, or read our complete list of LGBT events this weekend.

Check out the images below to see the map's progression from sketch drawing to publication:

Phase 1: The rough draft

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Phase 3: The final product (Click to enlarge)

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