As we kick off the beginning of Pride Month, the City of Lake Station is getting into the spirit of opening weekend with a Pridefest event at Riverview Park.
Leah Peksenak, president of NWI Pride Fest Inc., talks about what led up to the development of this Pridefest celebration.
“Today is just an opportunity to show Northwest Indiana and their LGBT community here that we invite them to come out,” Peksenak said. “This all came about from a conversation we had last summer about what a community could do to make someone feel welcome exactly as they are. There's nothing in this area for so many community organizations to be a part of and I’m glad we’re able to make that happen here.”
Peksenak felt that an event like this was much needed in the community. She discusses how there was a lot of preparation leading up to the event, ensuring that everything came together successfully.
“We've been promoting this since November,” Peksenak said. “In that time, a lot of communities have been buying in with so much energy from everyone involved.”
Maggie Ziembicki, Vice President of NWI Pridefest Inc., discusses how their team deliberated on different ideas for how to put together this celebration before coming to a decision.
“When we first brought it up, we were thinking about doing a parade,” Ziembicki said. “Eventually we decided on doing a festival and it’s grown into this. It’ll be nice to connect with many new faces throughout the weekend.”
Aaron Lugo, event volunteer, believes that this festival will be able to spread awareness and become an established event for many years to come in the City of Lake Station.
“With this being the first one, we’re hoping to continue this tradition and encourage other communities in Northwest Indiana to feel empowered as well,” Lugo said. “We’re the stepping stones so they can run. I think everything came together pretty nicely and I’m very proud of our whole team.”
This celebration also serves as a fundraiser for organizations such as the Trevor Project, Indiana Youth Group, the Damien Center, and the Center on Halsted.
Buffy Adams, senior director for donor relations with Indiana Youth Group, is one person who has a strong appreciation for this event. She’s thankful for how welcoming the City of Lake Station has been throughout the process leading up to this event and believes it coincides with the organization’s idea of inspiring younger generations.
“As a lesbian girl who grew up in Northwest Indiana, it’s amazing to see an event like this happening today,” Adams said. “I never would’ve been able to picture that a festival like this celebrating the LGBTQ community would be happening.”
Another person who felt a deep connection to this festival was Mayor Bill Carroll. He describes how grateful he’s been that the City of Lake Station has worked diligently to bring this idea to life.
“We were asked to put on an event where people feel safe and appreciated,” Carroll said. “It’s about diversity and acceptance. At the end of the day, love will always conquer hate. Being a gay man myself, I was proud to be able to host this and see everyone in this community. We have the opportunity to gather together and recognize all of the hard work as a celebration of uniqueness.”
While the opening day came with rain, that wasn’t going to stop NWI Pridefest. Mayor Carroll stated that you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
“It shows you how far we’ve come to see all the vendors set up and people still coming out to this experience despite the rain,” Carroll said. “We’re all here for a common goal of unity and I’m incredibly proud of the communities that we have here.”
NWI Pridefest will continue from 12 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 6.
For more information on the City of Lake Station, you can visit their website.