Rainbow flags, handmade bracelets, glitter-covered faces, and families filled Calder Plaza as thousands gathered for the 38th annual Grand Rapids Pride Festival.
Organized by the Grand Rapids Pride Center, the festival brought the public downtown on June 20 and 21 to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. This year’s theme, “Together We Glow,” emphasized visibility and the strength found in fellowship.
For attendees, the festival was a place to be seen, build community, meet like-minded people, and support loved ones.
“Pride means just being able to be yourself without judgment. Everybody’s welcome,” said Drew Aguilar, who is from Lansing but has attended Pride festivals around Michigan and beyond. “I’ve been to many. I’ve been to Chicago, Detroit, Lansing and Bay City. This is my first time in Grand Rapids, though, so it’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it.”
Aguilar said the Grand Rapids festival felt like a welcoming environment for a variety of people.
“It is family-friendly,” Aguilar said. “So far, I’ve noticed it has been very friendly, very tolerant, and it’s a fun place to be for everybody.”
Pride is a yearly tradition for Elijah Jones, who is a current GRCC student and Grand Rapidian. To Jones, Pride means “freedom of expression, individuality, and community.”
Jones has experienced Pride as an attendee and as a volunteer, taking part in the behind-the-scenes work that allows the festival to happen.
“My aunt owns Here to Serve, and we help with planning and volunteering, and cleaning up Pride every year,” Jones said. “I’ve been doing it for the past five years, I think. In between cleaning up, I always get to experience the different aspects of it. I’ve pretty much seen it rain or shine.”
Jones stated that this year’s festival stood out to him for its connection to a broader population of Grand Rapids.
“This Pride specifically is a lot more family-oriented,” Jones said. “I’ve been to all the Prides, and they’re all pretty fun with dancing and young people, but this year, I’ve seen a lot more families and kids and people walking their dogs. It’s really cool to see how it’s immersed into the community.”
A sense of family was also important to Jeremy Friesen, who traveled from Jones, a town approximately an hour away from Grand Rapids. For Friesen, Pride is representative of the love and support he has for his children.
“Pride means showing that I’m proud of my kids, who are along the gender spectrum and have used different pronouns, and just recognizing each of them as individuals and the beauty that they are,” Friesen said.
When asked what advice he would give to parents whose children have come out, Friesen said the answer comes with an open mind.
“Love them and be curious about their life.” Friesen said. “Just sit with them as they’re exploring what it means for them.”
While Pride for some is a space for family support, others turn to Pride Festivals as a place for outreach and community building.
Percy Ward, from Wayland, spent the day handing out bracelets to fellow attendees.
“Pride, for me, means a lot of community and a lot of work,” Ward said. “Something I do personally is hand out bracelets every Pride. Each one of these (carabiners) held five bracelets when I came here, and I handed them all out throughout the course of the day.”
For Ward, bracelets serve as a way to connect with people without the expectation of compensation. Ward hands out bracelets because they want to give to their community.
“It’s just a way of building that community through doing work and not necessarily expecting payment or anything in return,” Ward said. “Sometimes you just do things for other people because you care about them, even if you don’t know them. Being gay and being queer ties me together with them.”
Ward said that Pride can be meaningful to anyone that wants to better understand and experience queer culture, not just members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think a lot of people think that it’s only for queer people, but I also think it’s important for straight people to be able to come and enjoy and understand the culture at hand,” Ward said. “There is a very tangible queer culture at Pride events that I think many people would benefit from just experiencing and having fun with.”
Sabina Destani, 26, traveled from Kalamazoo and simply described Pride as “showing up and being yourself.”
“Get out and go,” Destani said. “You’ve got to try it. It’s so much fun. You find so many good people here, and you just get a sense of community that you don’t really get nowadays.”
Madison Preussel, 26, who also traveled from Kalamazoo to experience Grand Rapids Pride, said that the festival can help people feel less alone, especially when they are questioning their identity.
“Although we hear all these stories about people coming out every day, it still feels so isolating and so scary,” Preussel said. “But when you finally do, and you show up to a Pride event, you realize, ‘Oh, I’m not alone. I really am not alone.’”
Pride has been part of Preussel’s life since she was a teenager.
“I’ve actually been going to Pride ever since I was 14,” Preussel said. “I’m 26 now, so it really did help me understand who I was as a person, what my morals are, and what I believe.”
Preussel encourages anyone who has never attended Pride to experience it for themselves.
“I would tell everybody, come to Pride. Just come see how nice people are. Come see how open everyone is. You’re going to have a blast.”
Victoria Flowers, 27, from Grand Rapids, said Pride has helped her build a growing circle over the years.
“It’s about community and coming together,” Flowers said. “I feel like every year my group gets bigger and bigger, just meeting people and getting to know everybody. I feel like that’s the main thing: making sure that we have each other’s backs and all have a good time during hard times.”
Flowers didn’t always have her group, and she didn’t always know the part Pride would play in her life.
“When I was younger, I didn’t really know what anything was,” Flowers said. “I didn’t know what Pride was. I didn’t know a lot about it because of my upbringing. As I’ve gotten older and grown into adulthood, I’m able to experience more. Now, I’ve been here for a few years, and it’s great.”
To anyone going to their first Pride Festival, Flowers offers some sound advice.
“Just have a great time and discover yourself,” Flowers said. “It can help you discover yourself. You may find out things that you didn’t know. I didn’t know about certain terms. It took going through college and getting a gender studies degree for me to learn about things.”
Flowers said that Pride can be meaningful for anyone.
“I think you should go to Pride, even if you’re not part of the LGBTQ community,” Flowers said. “It’s just a good time to meet new people and make memories.”
For Grand Rapidian Artemis Tally, Pride means breaking the mold.
“I think it means resistance,” Tally said. “It means being authentic and being able to be free and build community. I see so many friends who come down here. I see so many folks opening themselves up. It’s really beautiful, and I love seeing new people just being authentically themselves.”
Tally, who is turning 30 this year, said Pride played a crucial role in finding their community, which helped shape who they are today.
“I can’t say that I would be the person I am today without the ones who were with me all that time,” Tally said. “Honestly, it’s a miracle that I graduated from school. It’s because of my family, the found family that I found at school.”
For people looking for belonging, Tally said the most important advice they have is to seek out people who have common interests and values.
“Try to find your people,” Tally said. “I think it’s very daunting being an adult and trying to find new friends, people who connect with you, but honestly, try to find your tribe.”
Tally said Pride can be a place where people can begin to find their community.
“If you like theater, try to see what’s happening in the theater spaces,” Tally said. “If you like art, maybe there are some artists around. If you’re a writer, there are so many writing groups out there. Find your flock. You can do that here at Pride, too.”
While the Grand Rapids Pride Festival has passed, the Holland Pride Festival is happening on June 27 from 1 to 6 p.m. at Kollen Park, presented by Out on the Lakeshore. Holland Pride will have food trucks, entertainment, vendors, resource booths, and activities for all ages. GRCC will have a booth at the event, passing out free GRCC Pride 2026 T-Shirts while supplies last.
