Battle Creek Pride Week 2022: 'This is going to be the biggest one we've ever had'

Battle Creek Pride is going big with its 2022 pride week celebrations.

The nonprofit — now settled in at its new Resource Center headquarters at 104 Calhoun Street — has planned four days of festivities celebrating the city's LGBTQ+ community beginning Thursday.

While the organization continued hosting pride week events over the last two years, it had to scale back its celebrations the last two years due to the pandemic. Now, with more volunteers, vendors and community support, 2022 pride week is expected to be unparalleled in the 12-year history of the festivities.

"We're going to see an exponential growth in this, and I think there are two reasons," said Battle Creek Pride Co-President Kim Langridge. "One is COVID. People have been missing this and we haven't been able to give people what they want which is interaction and face-to-face fun. This year we'll be able to do that. The second is visibility. People know us now. We're known in the community. So put those two together, and those are two of the reasons why this is going to be the biggest one we've ever had."

Battle Creek hosts pride week events in July, as opposed to national pride month in June, in part so that it doesn't compete with celebrations held in other communities. It is also rooted in a tradition that started with a picnic hosted by the former Partners Bar, which was carried on when Larry Dillon founded Battle Creek Pride in 2010 and hosted a picnic that year at Willard Beach.

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"It's great to go support other communities. We know what work they put into that," said Battle Creek Pride Co-President Deana Spencer. "There's a lot I'm looking forward to this year. I'm hoping people will come. I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

Battle Creek's pride week kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Miller Stone Building at 77 Capital Ave. NE. There, 12 selected contestants will compete to win prizes in a trivia contest dubbed "LGBTQ & A," hosted by Michael "Mac" McCullough of the Willard Library and Charlie Fulbright of Battle Creek Pride.

The Battle Creek Pride Parade begins at 7 p.m. Friday, traveling east from Gould Street down Michigan Avenue, concluding at Commerce Pointe at 77 E. Michigan Ave. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will serve as the parade's grand marshal.

Following the parade, Nessel will give a brief speech, followed by a "Queens of the Creek" drag show at 8 p.m. at Wave Park. She is running for a second term in office this fall against Republican Matt DePerno, a Kalamazoo attorney.

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On Saturday, Leila Arboretum will host a family-friendly festival from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. The festival at 928 W. Michigan Ave. is free and open to the public, and there will be at least 68 vendors, food trucks, a beer garden, live music, a DJ, drag show and kids area sponsored by Willard Library featuring games, prizes, face painting and a caricature artist.

Live music begins at 2 p.m., when a dozen local performers take the stage for a pride version of America's Got Talent, followed by a drag show at 3 p.m. Barefoot Blonde will be the featured musical artists, performing at 4:30 p.m.

Spencer said Battle Creek Pride is anticipating "upwards of 1,200 visitors" for the event, and will have the most vendors and volunteers in its history.

On Sunday, the celebrations will conclude with a 9 p.m. candlelight vigil at the Sojourner Truth Monument in downtown Battle Creek.

"We're celebrating because this started as a protest," Spencer said. "And it started with violence, so we have to remember how we got from there to here."

On July 29, the Battle Creek Battle Jacks baseball team is hosting "Pride Night" at C.O. Brown Stadium. The game begins at 6:35 p.m., and using the promo code "pride," a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Battle Creek Pride.

For more information, visit battlecreekpride.org.

Contact reporter Nick Buckley at nbuckley@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0652. Follow him on Twitter:@NickJBuckley

BATTLE CREEK PRIDE WEEK

• Thursday: LGBTQ & A, 6 p.m. at the Miller Stone Building

• Friday: Pride Parade, 7 p.m. in downtown Battle Creek

• Saturday: Pride Festival, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Leila Arboretum

• Sunday: Candlelight Vigil, 9 p.m. at Sojourner Truth Monument

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek Pride Week to be 'the biggest one we've ever had'