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Pride of Dripping Springs, a communityled nonprofit, is scheduled to hold its second annual Pride festival this month.
Last year’s inaugural festival saw an outpouring of community support for the LGBTQ+ organization, with over 1,500 people attending the family-friendly event. This year, the festival will be held at the Dripping Springs Ranch Park and Event Center to accommodate an estimated 2,500 people. The event will take place on June 25, in celebration of June as National LGBTQ+ Pride Month and in honor of International LGBT+ Pride Day on June 28.
The annual event will be split into two segments, the first of which is a family-friendly festival from noon to 7 p.m. Sponsored and facilitated in part by the Springs Family YMCA, it will feature a variety of games and activities for children, teens and families, as well as vendor booths for all ages. Children’s musician Will Parker will perform live from 2 to 5 p.m.
The second segment is designed for ages 18 and up, a part of the festival Pride of DS has described as “Pride After Dark.” Both segments will have food and drinks available for purchase.
“From 7 to 11 p.m., the festival becomes Pride After Dark,” said Joe Harris, vice president of Pride of DS. “It’ll feature a DJ and a drag show with seven performers, hosted by Nadine Hughes. She’s the show coordinator for Rain and a lot of the 4th Street clubs [in Austin], and she does the drag shows over at Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room.”
This year’s festival will have another interesting feature: a gay rodeo.
“Last year, we were at an outdoor bar and music venue, and we really did use all of the space,” Harris explained. “This year, we chose Ranch Park for the ability to facilitate a lot more people. Well, that gave us access to a rodeo arena, so we reached out to the Texas Gay Rodeo Association to put a little twist on the event.”
The Texas Gay Rodeo Association — with chapters in nearby Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston — is a 30-year-old nonprofit dedicated to elevating the image of women and men in the field of rodeo, promoting and staging an annual rodeo in Texas and encouraging the participation of its members in western-related events and charitable activities. For the 2022 Pride festival, the TGRA will help organize several horse speed events, including barrel racing and pole bending.
“Their shows are produced by members of their LGBTQ-focused organization, so they often have substantial participation from LGBTQ+ members,” Harris said. “But they also just draw a lot of rodeo folks, and some people are just there to compete. Basically, it’s just a way to bring people together.”
Ultimately, Harris said, visibility is a big part of the goal for Pride of DS.
“A lot of the folks who helped us put on the festival last year graduated from Dripping Springs High School 20, 30 years ago and did not have a pleasant experience growing up gay in Dripping Springs at all,” Harris explained. “Now, more and more students are “out” at the local schools. Slowly, visibility and respect are starting to become themes in Drip for the first time.”
Resource tables at the festival will include free sexually transmitted disease testing, suicide hotlines and support services for LGBTQ+ youth and their families.
“Ultimately, the number-one motivator for all of this is that suicide rates among LGBTQ+ teens are substantially higher,” he continued. “Providing mental health resources and family guidance services is our number-one goal. Last year, we had a number of people attend whose families were not even aware they weren’t straight until the Pride festival.”
In addition to raising money for health and wellness resources, proceeds from the event will help fund future events and scholarships from Pride of DS. Last month, the organization gave away $500 scholarships to six DSHS seniors: Ella Smith, Declan Daniel, Emily Kolach, Ella Azua, Ainsley Ballard and Carys Blackmon.
“Next year, we hope to add a zero to that number, “ Harris said. “[Pride is] a fun day, but it’s really about getting the message out and raising money. The more the fundraising, the more the ability to make a difference.”
For more information, visit prideofdrippingsprings.org.
