Boise Pride is hosting its 33rd annual Pride Festival from Sept. 9-11 featuring new local, national and global recognized talent.
Donald Williamson, the executive director of Boise Pride and the Boise Pride Festival, shared that the main goal of the festival is to show the LGBTQIA+ community that they have support.
“This community has been targeted for a while now, so the festival is one way to show this community and its allies the support they do have,” Williamson said. “It can be easy to feel isolated sometimes when you have all that stuff going on.”
Williamson shared that after COVID hit in 2020, the festival was moved from the month of June, which is pride month, to September.
The move resulted in a lot of positive feedback from attendees, vendors and performers. Boise Pride made the decision to continue with the festival every September going forward.
“Having the festival in September allows us to attract vendors that wouldn’t normally come to Boise because they have to decide which city’s festival to attend,” Williamson said. “It allows us to book talent, stop competing with other pride festivals and allows us to support other pride festivals in the state. It also allows more Boise State students to attend.”
Prior to COVID, Boise’s Pride Festival was one of the fastest-growing Pride festivals in the nation.
This year’s Pride Festival schedule is available on the Boise Pride website and includes performers and events each day. Attendance is free.
Performers for this year’s festival include The Starbelly Dancers, Lezbe Kings, The Pearl Tones and many more.
Mainstage-featured performers include Vassy, Greyson Chance and Monét X Change.
The Boise Pride Festival Rally begins Saturday morning, and the Fred Meyer Parade begins Sunday morning with a lot of other activities and events taking place throughout the weekend.
All festival performances will take place at Cecil D. Andrus Park, 601 W. Jefferson St.
Photo courtesy of Sarah A. Miller
