David Saveanu
Staff Writer
Champaign-Urbana 8th-annual Pride Fest and Parade took place on the weekend of Sept. 15–17.
The pride weekend kicked off with a comedy show at the Soma Ultralounge, then on Saturday the festivities continued, followed by the parade at 4 p.m. and a drag brunch and party on Sunday.
The comedy show at the Soma Ultralounge featured Illinois comedians Shannon Noll and Whitney Chitwood. All the proceeds that came from the sales of the show benefited CU pride.
There was also a kickoff party at 51 Main where many different artists showed off talents to begin the festivities of the fun weekend.
The next day, the party continued all throughout downtown Champaign, with the parade path closed off beginning at the corner of Main and Walnut, and going all the way to Washington and Hickory. Business along the path were displaying rainbow flags and colorful posters showing support, and pride in C-U’s LGBTQ+ community.
The fest was cheerful with people expressing themselves, dressed in vibrant and colorful costumes and clothing. Different businesses along the roads that were closed off, were blasting music outside, so different areas along the festival had large groups of people dancing and celebrating pride, anticipating the parade.
The festival had a vendor section, where different businesses were showing support, and enjoying the festivities, while trying to connect with the attendees of the festival.
There was also a children’s area where children were jumping around in bounce-houses, shooting basketballs, and playing with bubbles. The festival overall was very child friendly, with a stage that played family friendly music, and a crowd that was sensitive to all sorts of attendees.
Upon the beginning of the parade, people cheered, and sang songs with the brightly dressed marchers, and the animated floats. Different companies, organizations, clubs from local schools, bands, public officials, and many more were marching along showing support and celebrating pride. Each group was singing or chanting in support of pride, and other social movements; songs like “525,600 minutes” as sung by the Illini Student Musicals, and chants like “Black Lives Matter” chanted by Gay-Straight Alliances from local High Schools.
Donna Whisler an attendant of the festival spoke on her experience “I’m from Decatur which is 45 minutes away…we came over today, I’m surprised to see three different church groups supporting the pride fest, so that was exciting to see, and a lot of hotlines for help, and counseling, and that’s been really good to see too. It’s the first pride fest I’ve ever been to. I’m just going to keep going and supporting.” People have come from all over Central Illinois to enjoy the festival.
The pride fest’s website described the parade and festival as the largest in Central Illinois.
The director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, and the C-U Pride Grand Marshall, Cory M. Jobe organized the fest and parade in collaboration with tourism industry professionals across Illinois.
Cody Dees, community relations manager for Visit Champaign County, talked about his experience and thoughts on the festival.
“Every year we come out to see thousands of people grace the streets of downtown Champaign honoring the pride and inclusivity that Champaign offers. It’s wonderful,” Dees said. “We have vendors out here supporting the cause and just being together. In a climate of so much divide Champaign comes together.”
The sense of community was strong in Champaign this weekend; people came together and united to support pride once more this year. If you’re interested in coming to the Pride Fest and Parade next year or other LGBTQ+ events, check unitingpride.org for dates and information.
