Columbia’s 24th Mid-Missouri PrideFest unites the community with vibrant performances, pride parade and support from local organizations, highlighting LGBTQ+ inclusivity
Sept. 28-29 marked the 24th anniversary of the Mid-Missouri PrideFest. This year’s festival was led by President Janet Davis, and it was her second year doing so. The festival ran through Saturday and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Both days were filled with performances from musicians and drag performers, and vendors lined the streets.
While Davis was the main organizer for the event, it took more than just an organizer to get the festival off of the ground.
“There’s this saying, ‘it takes a village’ and that saying is absolutely there for a reason,” Davis said. “It truly takes this community, this whole community around Columbia and mid-Missouri to put this all together and make this work.”
The opening ceremony for this year’s festival included the introduction of the royalty court, crowning Trent Adams as King, Stella Mann as Queen, Faye King as Regent and Alexxa Pro as Youth Royalty.
Faye King is referred to as “Regent;” a term for those who do not identify with king or queen, or are non-gender conforming.
This was followed with a speech by Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, who spoke of how important it is to celebrate pride in Columbia. Several churches in the Columbia area then gave their support for those at the festival. The opening ceremony concluded with a performance by The Quorus, a community choir group, starting with “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga.
The third annual pride parade started the festivities on Sunday. The parade lasted from noon to 1 p.m. and went down Broadway, starting at Ninth Street and ending at Fifth Street.
During the parade, vendors, dancers and a local community band performed Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” The parade ended with balloons resembling the rainbow flag and spelling out LOVE. The ‘O’ was shaped as a heart that was filled with the blue, pink and white from the transgender pride flag.
“It’s so important to be here to show our allyship and support of gender queer and queer folks, genderfluid folks, everyone, let folks know that they are so welcome here,” Planned Parenthood Great Plains volunteer, Rachel Stoutamire said.
There were several religious groups in attendance, including The First Baptist Church, Missouri United Methodist Church and Rock Bridge Christian Church.
Rock Bridge Christian Church has gone through an accreditation process and is now a rainbow chalice congregation, which is a Christian church that has shown that they are “open and affirming” to people of all gender expressions and sexual orientations.
Another group at the festival over the weekend was Memorial Funeral Home, Crematory & Memorial Park Cemetery, who said they were there to show support for the community.
“The point of our business is to make sure we take care of everyone,” Jordawn Moses, funeral director said. “Making our presence known that we are able to kind of help people get things in place ahead of time…is like, what our goal is.”
Art Smith and his wife Amanda were also in attendance at the festival. They were ready to give anyone a hug, high-five or fist bump.
The two have been doing so since 2019. Amanda Smith read about a group of people giving out hugs to attendees at a pride parade in Philadelphia, Pa. So they decided to offer their support and embrace those who do not get it from their families.
“So many of the people here don’t get them,” Art Smith said. “Their parents aren’t embracing [them]”
Buffaloe said she is proud to be the mayor of Columbia because of how inclusive and diverse the city is.
“I heard this kind of analogy the other day that the strength of our diversity are like threads and when they’re woven together, we’re just that much stronger together,” Buffaloe said.
Edited by Eric Hughes | ehughes@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Hannah Taylor and Maggie Atkinson | htaylor@themaneater.com
Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com