The theme for this year’s festival is “Unapologetically Me, 2023.” The event, hosted by the Grand Rapids Pride Center, will have a variety of vendors, resources, music, food and more.
Cassidy, who prefers not to use her last name, is a spokesperson for the center. She said the festival is giving people the space to feel authentically themselves amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate across the country.
“The queer and trans community is not going anywhere, and when we do get together it’s a very happy and vibrant space and we’re not necessarily going to cower away from that happiness, or the idea that folks are actively working to take our happiness away,” she said.
Cassidy said taking a moment to celebrate and gather is essential for the LGBTQ+ community to persevere.
She said the biggest takeaway from pride fest is that everyone can come together, and experience joy no matter their identity, including folks who maybe don’t identify as queer and trans.
“Yes, the day and event is for us, but I think there’s a lot of lessons that we can learn as a community from the queer and trans community in the way that we experience joy through rough times and through targeted violence and harm,” she said.
Post-pride fest, Cassidy said people can reach out to the Grand Rapids Pride Center for additional resources year-round.
“Pride is an incredible event, it’s one day out of the year where we can celebrate our community en masse, but you know folks are queer, trans, LGBT 365 days out of the year,” Cassidy said. “I always encourage folks to think about the ways that they can continue to engage with our community and organization.”
As for safety during the festival, Cassidy said organizers have several strategies in place including security to ensure attendees are safe during the event.
The Grand Rapids Pride Festival runs from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Saturday at Calder Plaza.
