Southern Indiana Pride festival, parade will make a comeback Saturday

May 31—SOUTHERN INDIANA — Southern Indiana Pride will see its fifth annual parade and festival hit the streets of Jeffersonville on Saturday after a two-year break.

The festivities will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday for the parade sponsored by Caesars Southern Indiana. The parade will last about 30 minutes, said Southern Indiana Pride Founder and President Evan Stoner.

The parade will include a variety of organizations from the Southern Indiana community. Sara Nord, former Miss Indiana Basketball, will be the grand marshal, leading the parade this year.

Traveling from the intersection of West Seventh and Spring streets to Chestnut Street to Pearl Street, the parade will end in front of Parlour. Big Four Station will then welcome the parade-goers and other guests for the Pride festival.

Security will be present at the venue to check bags. Stoner said that guests are encouraged to bring small backpacks, lawn chairs, coolers with water, picnic blankets and sunscreen.

Once guests have filed into the venue, they will see over 50 booths set up offering prizes, giveaways and games.

Some of the organizations that will have booths include Clark Memorial Health, First Savings Bank, LifeSpring Health Systems, Beautiful As You Are and Faith Lutheran Church, among others.

Wellstone Regional Hospital is the presenting sponsor for the family-friendly event. The mental health clinic will be providing information about mental health and suicide awareness.

"Mental health is a critical issue in our community among all of our youth, but LGBTQ youth in particular are at a higher risk. [Wellstone Regional Hospital has] really stepped up and put their money where their mouth is really about supporting LGBTQ youth and mental health," Stoner said.

Center for Women and Families will also be present at the event and will sponsor the event's family-fun zone. This section of the festival will include a bouncy house, activities as well as handouts about the organization's resources and services.

A handful of artists and performers will take up the center stage at the event.

Clarksville-native B Dayton, a pop artist and songwriter, will perform Saturday, as will the Robbie Bartlett Band, Your Second Favorite Band, Louisville Gay Men's Chorus and Voices of Kentuckiana.

Board and You Bistro and Wine Bar will host a drag show for the festival. The bistro hosts a drag brunch twice a month, and Stoner said that those drag queens will be making their way to the Pride stage.

A new addition to the festival this year will be the VIP tent hosted by The Alcove. Guests 21 and older are eligible to buy a $69 ticket for the tent. The VIP ticket also provides access to the FilthyGorgeous drag show at The Alcove on Friday at 10 p.m.

Southern Indiana Pride also partnered with Pints and Union to provide a beer garden at the event on Saturday.

Before 2018, Southern Indiana Pride was known as Jeffersonville Pride. Stoner said they changed their name because they were trying to expand their reach in the region.

Now, the organization is partnering with a handful of New Albany businesses such as Pints and Union and Board and You.

"Since we've done that we've actually seen a lot more engagement with companies and organizations from different counties in Southern Indiana," he said.

"We have a lot of support from New Albany, and the hope is in the future to do more events in New Albany as well."

Stoner said he's found that businesses and organizations are happy to be involved with Southern Indiana Pride because it is an organization of positivity in a world constantly bombarded with negativity.

"Our organization from the start, and we have never swayed away from this, is we have been an organization that has been about treating people like people, and about promoting diversity as our greatest strength and about seeking out support from unlikely places," he said.

The founder emphasized that Pride is an organization for everyone in the community, so they receive support from all political parties and types of organizations.

After facing a two-year hiatus, Stoner is excited to see everyone together again and smiling and being happy.

"We just need more positivity in our world," he said. "Even when it comes to the protesters, we're planning on bringing them cold water, because that's just the way that we operate."

The event is free and open to the public and is expected to last until 11 p.m.

Stoner also thanked the City of Jeffersonville, the Jeffersonville Parks Department and its director Paul Northam, Jeffersonville police and fire, faith leaders in the community, all the event sponsors and everyone who has shared a post or made a positive comment.

They have all played an integral part in making sure the event is successful, Stoner said.