Albert Lea's 1st pride festival aims at welcoming all to the community
Jun. 17—People from Albert Lea and as far as the Twin Cities gathered Saturday afternoon at Central Park to listen to music, have food and participate in other activities — all with the same message: Everyone is welcome in Albert Lea.
"Just supporting and seeing our LGBTQ community members," said Holly Babcock, director of Albert Lea Main Street Program and the Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau. Babcock, along with Bob Furland, recreation superintendent for the city, organized the pride festival.
Besides resource booths including Mayo Clinic Health Systems, Fernbrook Family Center, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, National Alliance of Mental Illness, there were vendors and food trucks, as well as a drag show.
"I think the community as a whole is always looking for growth, and in order to really wrap our arms around growth, we have to then welcome everyone," she said.
While she said there was some concern about the event, she noted there was a lot of positive feedback amongst community members. And that mixed reaction was understandable.
"With any event there kind of comes a little bit of not everyone's going to be happy, and that's OK," she said. "I think the biggest concern is that just for safety reasons that everyone feels safe."
She wanted Albert Lea to host this type of event to make residents in the LGBTQ community feel safe and seen.
Sara Barnes, who described the event as "awesome," was there representing the Freeborn County chapter of NAMI.
"We have one support group going in town now, and we'd like to get more going eventually in LGBTQ so they have a place to go and share with others that might have a mental illness as well and get feedback from them," she said.
Roxi Manacoochi, who grew up in Austin, was responsible for the live drag show.
"I think it's great [there was a Pride Festival]," Manacoochi said. "Austin ... just celebrated their first Pride Festival last year, so it's great to be able to see other communities around my hometown slowly starting to participate in Pride Month and having their own Pride Festivals."
Manacoochi was also impressed with the turnout, especially considering this was the first time the community has held one.
"It's wonderful to see kids, families, senior citizens all coming together to be able to support something like this," Manacoochi said.
Tayah Walker, who was with Sunflower Communities, brought residents down for the festival. This was also her first Pride Festival.
"It seems pretty cool so far, I'm enjoying it," she said.
Sister Luna Loveagoodtime, a member of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, came down from the Twin Cities.
"We are an organization of queer nuns whose main mission is to spread joy and to help people not feel bad for who they are," Loveagoodtime said. "Basically if there's enough room in the world for me to be dressed the way that I'm dressed, there's enough room for you to be you and your full authentic self."
Lindsey Maiden, originally from Minneapolis, was there to show support for people from smaller communities.
"I was kind of nervous that nobody would be here, but the turnout is amazing, the love in the air is amazing and everyone's just so excited," she said.
Summer Beightol wanted to be a part of the first Pride Festival in Albert Lea.
"It's very exciting to be able to have my hometown have a pride festival," she said, adding it was "awesome."
She also loved the inclusivity.
Besides music and giveaways, there was a bounce house, and yard games were available.
Earlier that day there was a drag brunch at the American Legion, something Manacoochi described as "amazing."
"We had such a great turnout, everyone had a blast," Manacoochi said, referring to an earlier drag brunch at the American Legion . "It was such a wide age range of people."
This was the first time Albert Lea hosted a pride event.
"We're really excited to have this event come back year after year," Babcock said, noting planning for the event started last June.
"We had Roxi come and perform at our June Wind Down Wednesday festival (last year), and we kind of saw the need for how many of our community members and surrounding community members came and supported that event. So we saw the need for having an event again this year."
Babcock thanked the businesses and organizational partners who participated.
Check back for more photos from the event.
