Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, for the Rutland Herald
RUTLAND — On a rainy Saturday afternoon, lively crowds filled downtown with rainbow flags in every direction as vendors, nonprofits and performers lined the streets for the fourth annual Rutland County Pride Festival.
Despite the gloomy weather, people from all over Vermont and beyond made it to Rutland to celebrate queer joy.
Sam Davis-Boyd, Rutland County Pride co-president, spent the day in and out of booths, mingling and overseeing that the event ran smoothly.
“Yes, there’s rain,” Davis-Boyd said, “but you can’t have rainbows without rain.”
As the fourth annual Pride Festival, the event was bigger than ever. Davis-Boyd anticipated around 5,000 people over the course of the day to be in downtown Rutland celebrating.
Rutland County Pride is a nonprofit that puts on community events year round. At its headquarters on West Street, the organization holds weekly and monthly programming and operates as a space for “queer folks to gather and be together,” Davis-Boyd said. The offerings include a book club, affinity spaces for people of all gender identities, and LGBTQ+ movie nights.
The Pride Festival is the nonprofit’s biggest undertaking each year.
“After the festival ends, we take a month off and then we’re back at it planning for next year — connecting with all the different vendors that want to be involved, entertainers that want to come and be on the stage, and working with downtown businesses,” Davis-Boyd said. “It’s just a lot of different moving pieces that all have to come together to make it happen.”
Rutland County Pride had only just formed when it started the Pride Festival four years ago. The event has grown from 40 vendors to more than 100, and it draws more people each year, Davis-Boyd said.
“Getting to see a whole bunch of queer people come together and be themselves and just find queer joy together — it’s so beautiful,” she said.
Down the block, a young woman sang covers of Chappell Roan songs, and children danced and played in puddles. Meg Jones stood under a tent, keeping coloring books and Pride flags dry from the storm.
Jones is an educator who volunteers with Outright Vermont. The nonprofit provides resources to parents, caregivers, and educators to support LGBTQ+ youth.
“Right now the outlook can be a little bleak for people who don’t know that there are networks of support surrounding them,” Jones said. “At these events, when young people come up to a table and see materials that represent them, they get excited that people are excited about their identity, and that they actually belong.”
VTSUnity, the LGBTQ+ club at Vermont State University-Castleton, hosted a tent where drag queens, moms, and college students alike wrote messages to incoming undergrads on a damp poster board. The messages ranged from silly things like “stay weird” to more serious heartfelt messages of belonging and acceptance.
Just outside the tent, a group of teens shared French fries and laughter as they discussed how this year’s Pride Festival was their favorite yet. They said they’re already looking forward to next year.