Stark Pride Festival to celebrate LGBTQ+ community with music, food, drag queens, bubbles
CANTON – Seated at a table on a gorgeously sunny day, the organizers of the Stark Pride Festival looked over at Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton.
The stage and green space were empty, typical for a weekday afternoon.
But the planners of Canton's first Pride festival already envision a vibrant celebration on Saturday for the LGBTQ+ community.
T.J. Horwood, Jonathan Becker, Tracy Brewer and Natasha Gaj imagined a scene of live music, food trucks, drag queens, vendors, exhibitors and children's activities.
"We want it to be for everyone," said Horwood, festival chair and founder.
The foursome is among a core group of eight or nine volunteers who have been planning the inaugural Stark Pride Festival for several months. Other volunteers and groups are also supporting the festival, including Queer in Canton, Visit Canton and ArtsinStark.
The free event has also received support from businesses, multiple churches and elected officials, organizers noted.
"It really is a grassroots effort," Horwood said of the local festival, which is 3 to 10 p.m., and is in conjunction with Pride Month, a national celebration of the history and visibility of the LGBTQ+ community.
The event will take place rain or shine at Centennial Plaza on Market Avenue N between Third and Fourth Streets NW along Court Avenue. Surrounding streets will be closed.
'There's no such thing as the gay agenda. It really is just being permitted to love and live out our dreams — it's no more complicated than that.'
Brewer, marketing chair for the festival, said she's made efforts to broaden the community's understanding of the festival through social media.
"My goal was to make sure people understood we were here not just to have a festival, but to be a solid part of the community," she said.
"Everyone has been very positive," Brewer said.
Guidance and support from Becker has been especially helpful because of his past involvement with planning a similar event in Indiana before the artist moved to Canton.
"I think people ... tend to be afraid of things they don't understand or don't know," said Becker, the festival's entertainment chair. "And Pride is about creating understanding."
The festival is also a celebration, he noted, "because the human experience is a universal thing."
"There's no such thing as the gay agenda," Becker explained. "It really is just being permitted to love and live out our dreams — it's no more complicated than that."
Live music will include pop and alternative rock and hip-hop
Establishing the festival has required securing financial support and "creating infrastructure from the ground up," Horwood said.
More than 40 businesses, groups and individuals are sponsoring the event. Donations can be made online at www.starkpride.org.
Sponsors include the city of Canton, Downtown Canton Special Improvement District, the Craig Covey LGBT & Diversity Pride Fund and Equitas Health.
Entertainment includes DreamStates at 3:30 p.m., which plays original and cover songs and performed at the Akron Pride Festival last year; Angie Haze at 5:30 p.m., of the alt-pop-experimental genre; and Stark County-based Hey Monea, a pop rock band, at 7:30 p.m.
Entertainment also includes DJKrooze and hip-hop artist Ethan Soza.
Drag queens feature emcees Danyel Vasquez (daytime) and Kardi Redd Diamond (evening), with performances by Dakota Cox, Hershae Chocolate, Kaleigha Diamond and Rosie Quartz.
Food trucks include Empamami, Ball's Wieners-N-Buns, Ohio's Best Lemonade, Flip N' Fry, Johnny Lote's Latin Street Corn, and Peace, Love & Little Donuts.
Dr. U.R. Awesome will entertain kids with bubble art
Children's activities are from 3 to 6 p.m. near Third Street and Market Avenue N, including Dr. U.R. Awesome, a professional bubble artist, at 4 p.m., as well as the Stark Library Bookmobile, face painting and a bounce house.
Festival participants with booths include crafters, florists, health organizations, community groups, advocacy organizations, businesses and religious organizations, Stark Pride organizers said.
Mama Bears will be represented; the group supports, educates and empowers families with LGBTQ members.
"We do free mom hugs," Brewer said. "Everybody is welcome to come and get a hug from us mothers, because not everybody comes from a family who has affirming and accepting families, and we're they're to give that support."
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Jerzee's Cafe will handle all alcohol sales on festival grounds at the plaza. DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) cups from other downtown bars and restaurants will be permitted.
Also planned are speakers, education activities and artists.
Free HIV testing will be available from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. through Canton City Public Health, 420 Market Ave. N.
Canton Mayor Bernabei will help open Stark Pride Festival
The festival is scheduled to open at 3 p.m. with a ceremony featuring veteran gay activist and Jackson Township resident Craig Covey, who founded Pride celebrations in Ohio and Michigan.
Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei will offer a welcome at the organizers' request.
"It is a first-time event intended to bring together the LGBTQ+ community of Stark County and surrounding areas and to celebrate their diversity, and educate, entertain and welcome people of all backgrounds," he said.
Rae's on Court is hosting 'Drag Brunch Pride Kickoff Party'
Rae's on Court is holding the "Drag Brunch Pride Kickoff Party" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the back alley on Court Avenue NW near Centennial Plaza. Rae's is at 218 Court Ave. NW.
Rae's on Court is hosting the brunch with Samantha's Downtown Restaurant. Drag queen entertainment is also part of the brunch, said Jamal Gomez, who manages both Samantha's Downtown and Rae's on Court.
"We are talking something premium and deluxe," Gomez said of the buffet. "Three types of meat, eggs and potatoes. Anything you can think of. Fresh fruit and desserts."
For ticket information, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/pride-kickoff-drag-brunch-party-tickets-338098831707?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.
Twenty mimosa flavors will be featured, along with beermosas and drink specials, he said.
"This is an all-age event," Gomez said of the brunch. "Everybody can come; this is kid-friendly."
Kaleigha Diamond is hosting the drag brunch, which includes meet-and-greet photo opportunities with the drag queens, who also will be part of the Stark Pride Festival.
"We are going to be partying all the way until the festival starts," Gomez said.
Gomez said the entire festival is both a celebration and important outreach effort to the LGBTQ+ community.
"It's OK to be yourself," he said. "It's OK to be loud and proud."
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After parties will be at The Auricle and WERC night club
After parties are scheduled at The Auricle, 201 Cleveland Ave. NW, and WERC night club, 304 Cherry Ave. NE.
"Whether 100 people show up or 100,000 show up (to the festival), I'm just excited to be part of it," said Josh Brewer, owner of The Auricle. "And we're proud to be an ally of the community."
Covey has guided the festival committee, drawing on his experience as co-founder of the gay rights group Stonewall, which organized the first Gay Pride parade in Columbus in 1982. Later, he was hired as executive director of a Michigan gay rights group, which organized parades and marches in Detroit.
'I think our event is going to take off fast and grow quickly."
Most important is for Canton's first large-scale Pride event to be successful, inclusive and fun, Covey said.
"I acted as a cheerleader and said that it was time for Stark County to join communities around the world that celebrate and recognize LGBT pride," he said.
"While acceptance around the country is strong, Canton and vicinity was a bit late to the game," the Stark County native said in an email. "We are a culturally very conservative community, and we had to fight inertia and the fear of something new.
"But strong leadership emerged quickly, and the support from many sectors across Stark County has been overwhelming," Covey said. "While in the past such events grew slowly, I think our event is going to take off fast and grow quickly."
Future Pride festivals "will become a huge generator of economic impact," predicted Becker, of the committee.
Covey said the event also can serve as a catalyst for "bringing color, vibrancy and energy" to the community.
"Through the recognition and acceptance and embracing of diversity, our region can finally throw off the image of a rust belt city and begin to attract young people, new residents and businesses, and bring creativity and growth to our cities and towns here."
Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com
On Twitter @ebalintREP
If you go
What: Inaugural Stark Pride Festival
Where: Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton on Market Avenue N between Third and Fourth streets NW along Court Avenue.
When: 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday
What: Live music, including Hey Monea, Angie Haze, DreamStates and Ethan Soza. Entertainment also features drag queens, including Kardi Redd Diamond, as well as Dr. U.R. Awesome, a bubble artist. Other attractions include vendors, exhibitors and food trucks. Free HIV testing will be provided from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. through the Canton City Public Health.
Cost: Free admission
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark Pride Festival celebrates LGBTQ+ community with music, food, fun
