DECATUR, IL. — Decatur Pride wants you to know it’s a festival on the rebound.
After feedback from last year’s attendees asked for more kids’ activities and more resources, organizers of this fifth annual festival responded.
New president Jennifer Ellis added a section of kids’ games that include carnival fun, a blow-up bulls-eye game, a life-size Jenga game, Connect 4, and giant legos.
Above, drag king DaéShaun Frank Carrington, the Decatur Pride logo, Sally the Clown and Decatur Pride President Jennifer Ellis.
Ellis and her leadership team reinstated Drag Story Hour, which this year features both a drag queen and a drag king. They kept Sally the Clown, a crowd favorite, and revived the all-ages variety show from a few years back.
“If you have a talent as a dancer, let’s see it. If you are somebody who enjoys dressing up in drag or any other kind of costume, cosplay or whatever, let’s see it. It’s whatever makes you happy,” Ellis says. “People need to understand we’re just like everybody else. And we want our families to feel like they are included.”
Decatur Pride also includes pet show, resource fair, drag and live music
This is the fifth year Decatur Pride has held an annual festival, and Ellis hopes to see this year’s crowd return to at least 500, maybe more. In addition to this year’s leadership team reviving the Drag Story Hour and Variety Show, they also kept Voice of Decatur, a singing competition.
This year’s fest also includes a pet show as in years past. Entertainment for the day includes several local drag performers and Celtic Whistle, performing traditional Irish tunes.
Decatur Pride Fest’s vendor fair features 67 entries this year, 27 more than last year. Ellis said overall, sponsor support for Decatur Pride grew this year — partly because of a year-round networking effort.
DaéShaun Frank Carrington, (above), the drag king who will read at Drag Story Hour and who will also perform, is excited about the welcoming atmosphere the festival provides each year. “It’s a safe environment,” said Carrington, who holds four drag titles from Illinois and Missouri. “There are no inappropriate exposures, no forcing of being this or that. It’s a loving and welcoming state to be in.”
Carrington also says the festival is important because of how it helps people find needed resources. “There is a struggle with some not knowing how to get to the right people, or to get the help we need. Those are the ones who end up feeling like they’re alone, or in a position of going through a struggle without having a way out.”
Among the key resources available: free HIV testing, which Ellis says more people have been seeking this past year. She says the festival also helps fill a void left in Decatur when it lost its only LGBTQ+ bar a few years ago, making it harder to find places to socialize. The festival will also offer raffle prizes, and calendar and shirt sales.
Decatur Pride leaders also hope the festival is a chance to spread word about the nonprofit’s new Rainbow Youth Circle, a “hangout with discussion” for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 8 to 17 that meets every second Wednesday and every fourth Saturday.
The festival is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fairview Park, 2095 W Eldorado St. For more information about Decatur Pride, see its website or Facebook page.
