Creston is all set to celebrate its first Pride Fest this Saturday.
A farmer’s market, open mic, queer trivia contest, music, and an evening drag show at Mountain Park Resort will celebrate the LGBTQIA2S+ community and its members.
OUTspoken Creston and the Creston Pride Committee have been working hard to put on the event since January, says Pride committee coordinator Nikolas.
“This is the first time in 100 years that this has ever happened. We’re incredibly honored to be the ones to pioneer it. We’ve been putting in a lot of hours, people have been volunteering around the clock to get this done, and the community has been so supportive.”
Creston has its history with its LGBTQIA2S+ community members, including a SOGI-123 protest that took place last year.
However, Nikolas says the recent showing of support has made all the difference.
“Change is difficult for people, but the difference this time is that the Town council is on our side. They support us so much, they put a flag up at the town hall to match the one of the farmer’s market,” explained Nikolas.
“The hatred is still the same. It’s going to kind of always be there because it’s uncomfortable for a moment. But the difference is we have a lot of support and a lot of really dedicated volunteers.”
Despite pushback, Nikolas says OUTspoken wants to provide a space that they would have liked to have had as a kid.
“As a queer kid, you look for support because you hope that adults are going to teach you how to do things safely and responsibly and how to have fun while being yourself. It’s difficult to try and do that secretly. We’re connecting with some of the youth here and we’re trying to kind of bridge that gap because there has been a silence for so long.”
So far, they have seen an outpouring of support on both social media and in person at the farmer’s market, where they have a tent set up.
“We’ve heard the most touching testimonials from youth and parents of youth that are struggling with a lot of the discourse that’s in social media and some of the protests that have happened. Seeing us in the parade and at the farmers market and just being everywhere does help a lot. I Can only imagine what it would have done for me to see us when I was a kid.”
During a counter-protest to the SOGI-123 protest, Nikolas says they had a confrontation where one of their youth was pushed into the street.
With their new location, they are hopeful this year’s Pride fest will be a huge success.
“We have had to be very, very careful about the environments that we’re setting up. That’s what inspired Pride Fest,” explained Nikolas.
“Our second counter-protest was basically a peaceful walk to the library where we laughed so hard it hurt and we had so much fun; that was amazing and healing. So we chose Pride Fest because we were able to control the environment and control the privatization because if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to.”
Nikolas says everyone is welcome at the event and hopes to see a big turnout.
“There’s going to be music playing and there’s going to be hot dogs. There’s going to be food trucks and it’s going to be awesome.”
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