By Vanessa Hewitt
The 36th annual Grand Rapids Pride Festival drew thousands downtown on Saturday, June 22 for the event that extended across Lyon Street, Ionia Avenue and Ottawa Avenue to Calder Plaza. With many vendors, community resources and activities, several participants in the festival said they were pleased with the amount of people who came out.
Lune Amarandel, a Grand Rapids resident and part of the GR Pride organization, expressed how they feel about this year’s event.
“Last year was one of the first years after COVID, so it wasn’t as big, we weren’t able to pull everything together,” Amarandel said. “This year feels so much more put together.”
Amarandel said they were not only given an extra street but also more room for food trucks and booths.
All of that extra room allowed for nearly 200 booths, and a variety
of vendors and people spreading awareness. Grand Rapids Community College had a booth that featured people wearing “GRCC Pride” t-shirts and gifting them to passersby. The college was just one of many organizations, not only representing LGBTQ+ rights, but all types of human rights.
Tyler Henderson, a 26-year-old GRCC graduate, took part in spreading awareness about Palestinian liberation and struggle. He said he is fairly new to Pride, but thinks GR is doing wonderful at bringing the community together.
“There are a lot of events, a lot of good food, I think they do a great job,” said Henderson.
GRCC will also be attending Holland’s Pride Festival on June 29 in Centennial Park.
Despite the light rain, the festival was full of people spreading love and the crowd featured many smiling faces. One person among the crowd was Jessica Brummel with “Free Mom Hugs”. Brummel shared her thoughts on why pride is so important.
“There is nothing more powerful than someone being their most authentic self and having the space to celebrate that,” said Brummel.
GR Pride has provided a space for the local community to come out and celebrate one another. Kat Hutton, a representative with “MiGen” said they came from a family they did not necessarily feel accepted in. They explained that Pride means a lot to them and has allowed them to feel understood, and they encourage people of all ages to take part in Pride.
“I really love GR Pride, Hutton said. “I’m very excited it expanded this year. … I think so many people can find space here.”
