Leaders of an annual festival highlighting the LGBTQ+ community are hoping to draw a bigger crowd to downtown Springfield than a year ago.
Set for Saturday, June 8, Ozarks Pridefest will bring activities, performances, programs, vendors and a parade to Park Central Square. It is organized by GLO Center of the Ozarks.
Aaron Schekorra, executive director of the GLO Center, said the 2024 Pridefest will feature a number of familiar offerings, and will take up a bit more space than usual.
“It will actually be the largest footprint downtown that our event has ever had,” Schekorra said. “We’re very excited about that. And we’ve been working really closely with some of our partners downtown to make sure that there are good options for food and drinks, so people who want to spend the whole day downtown can.”
A parade will begin at 11:30 a.m., and run from the Springfield Municipal Court building at Chestnut Expressway and North Benton Avenue south to McDaniel Street and west toward the square.
The event will kickoff at noon. The headline performer is Daya Betty, a drag queen who was featured in season 14 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Other performers include the Mixtapes, Men’s Chorus of the Ozarks, Crys Matthews and more.
Informational programs are in the lineup for Martha’s Education Booth, presented by Martha’s Vineyard. The lineup includes sessions led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), League of Women Voters and PROMO.
Schekorra said organizers also worked to expand this year’s Queer Marketplace, a place for LGBTQ-owned businesses.
The event’s theme, “It’s Giving: Revolution,” is focused on embracing the spirit of resilience, Schekorra said. While celebration is important, the event is also a reminder to build a stronger community.
“We’re not just celebrating. We’re getting back to the roots of what Pride originated as, which was a protest,” Schekorra said. “We are looking at how we can stand together against the tide of legislation that we still face as a community, especially the renewed attacks every few years on the transgender community.”
The 2023 edition of Pridefest is a good example.
(Photo by Jym Wilson)
Several Republican elected officials criticized the event across social media last year. And days before, organizers dealt with rumors of a security threat.
Because of that, Schekorra said that initially, a lighter crowd was expected for this year. About two months ago, with two weeks before a sponsorship deadline, Pridefest organizers shared that they had a much smaller number of sponsors and vendors. Afterward, Schekorra said some of those sponsors were caught in backlash.
But after the organizers shared that information on Facebook, they saw a surge of interest in response. This year’s festival has 50 sponsors and 51 vendors, he said.
“We decided to be transparent, because we were anticipating that it would be a smaller event this year,” Schekorra said. “But the community decided to prove us wrong. We had a lot of non-profits and small businesses that came in and filled the gap.”
Schekorra said the festival is working with Springfield law enforcement groups and a security firm to ensure safety for participants and attendees. The festival has also set up a cooling zone, in case the June sun creates unsafe temperatures.
