Jacksonville Pride Month: What to know about the upcoming county festival, other events

Jacksonville city leaders have signed a historic proclamation declaring June 2022 LGBTQ Pride Month, and the Onslow LGBTQ+ Community Center is ready for the pride festival.

According to a news release from Onslow County LGBTQ+ Community Center Executive Director Dennis Biancuzzo, their planning committee has worked to put together a free community pride event.

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The event will be held on June 4 at the Jacksonville Commons Recreational Park at 100 Recreation Lane in Jacksonville, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The event's theme is "one community."

"There has been a small pride held for the past three years in the city of Jacksonville, but this is the first pride for the Onslow County LGBTQ Community Center," Biancuzzo said. "Which has now actually turned into a regional pride event garnering vendors, visitors, and sponsors from several surrounding counties."

What can I do at this event?

Biancuzzo said in the release, that there will be four distinct areas set up at the festival.

He said residents can tempt their taste buds with any one of 11 food trucks, bring the kids to the youth area with arts and crafts, visit the health and wellness area where the Onslow County Health Department and Onslow Memorial Hospital will be doing health screenings and prevention, and/or browse more 40 vendors.

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He added residents can bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the full day of entertainment on the main stage.

"The entertainment for this year's event is jam packed," Biancuzzo said. "We are starting off right at 11 a.m., and won't stop until at least 6 p.m. Our headline entertainer, Austin Ellis, from the hit TV show, The Voice, will perform around 4 in the afternoon."

Biancuzzo added the food truck rodeo will have everything you can think of, and he hopes many come out to support the Onslow LGBTQ community.

"The community faces many hardships, the greatest always being that from those people who hate," Biancuzzo said. "Every person within the intersection community has their own individual success and hardships, all of which are what makes our community so unique and beautiful."

For more information on this event and others, visit the Onslow County LGBTQ Facebook page, website, or call 910-333-9968.

Other Onslow pride events

On top of the 2022 Pride Festival, there are a handful of other events to take part in and around Onslow.

Roller City of Jacksonville is holding a Pride Skate on Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m. The event is being hosted by the Onslow LGBTQ Community Center. The center is also holding a Ride 4 Pride immediately preceding the Pride Festival on June 4.

From 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., the center says to bring your vehicle decorated in its best pride gear as they drive through Jacksonville, from the Jacksonville Mall, down Western Blvd, and to the Jacksonville Commons area for the festival.

Also, Prive' Nightclub and Bar will hold Pride at Prive' 2022 on June 17, with doors opening at 10 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door, and the event is a "concert and pride party for the L.G.B.T community of Jacksonville, N.C. and surrounding areas," according to its Facebook event.

Reporter Morgan Starling can be reached at mstarling@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Jacksonville Pride Month: Here's what to know about the pride festival