Wichita Pride in June with new event
by Emma Rose Kraus
Intern Journalist
This year’s Wichita Pride festivities will be returning to June after being changed to September four years ago due to the heat. Now, by popular demand, the celebration is moving back to Pride Month with mostly indoor activities to combat the weather.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback from the community about wanting to go back to June because it’s the traditional Pride Month and everybody was wanting to get back to that,” says President of Wichita Pride Travis Hooper. “So, we thought with this board we would give it one more chance.”
Along with the move, the celebration will include many of the events from previous years but with the addition of one unique new event.
“We’re kicking things off with a scavenger hunt,” Hooper exclaims. “We’re focusing it around the downtown area. Basically, we’ll be able to form teams of five to six people, they’ll all start at XY Bar and at exactly 7 o’clock they’ll be given a packet that includes 150 or so different challenges that they will do; different things that they will go hunt.
“There’ll be an app that they’ll be using so they can share their scavenger hunt photos with us while they’re doing it,” he continues. “In the bar, we’ll be able to watch them while they’re out doing their scavenger hunt.”
Hooper continues, “Also on Friday night, directly after our scavenger hunt, we’ll be having a drag show at Club Boomerang [scheduled at 10:30 p.m.]. We’ve got some performers that are coming in from out of town.”
Performers include Desiree DeMornay as the headliner and will also feature Londenn D Raine, MsAmanda Love, Novacayne DeMornay and Sexual Chocolate Demornay with LadiesMan DeMornay Ronee as the evening’s host.
Other activities and events will include the June 17 Family Picnic at 11 a.m. at O.J. Watson Park and the All-Ages Dance Party starting on June 17 at 5:30 p.m.
The Pride Parade will take place on June 18 after a 12 p.m. Community Rally at the Historical Courthouse to kick things off.
“At 1 o’clock our parade will start. Our parade will follow streets from the old Historic Courthouse down to Mid America All Indian Center,” Hooper says. “We’ll have an entire day of entertainment there.”
This entertainment at the Pride Festival, which will begin at noon, will include food trucks and around 15 vendors to end the celebration off right. The Festival is expected to bring in 1,500 to 2,000 people.
The relationship Wichita Pride built with the police last year is also still going strong and the Pride Parade will have two mounted patrol liaisons from the Wichita Police Department present.
To attend many of these events, patrons will need a Wichita Pride 2017 button. Buttons will cost $5 and may be purchased at the events.
For more information please visit www.wichitapride.org
Copyright 2017 The Gayly – June 7, 2017 @ 11:25 a.m.