FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
Spencer, IN — On Saturday, October 5 from 12-7 PM the annual Spencer Pride Festival returns to downtown Spencer in celebration of the rural LGBTQ+ community. This year’s event is the 17th in-person festival hosted by Spencer Pride. Organizers promise to deliver on the same all-ages, all-abilities, family-friendly atmosphere while introducing diverse new elements that are sure to welcome an even wider variety of attendees.
The Spencer Pride Festival is Indiana’s largest rural LGBTQ+ pride event and one of the most well-known rural LGBTQ+ events in the nation. The festival welcomed 7,000 attendees in 2023 and welcomes the participation and support of many local organizations and businesses.
The Spencer Pride Festival will offer a full day of free entertainment and programming, a large vendor marketplace (with a record of 160+ booths), and an array of health & wellness services. Services will include a free vaccine clinic offered by Indiana Immunization Coalition and free HIV testing offered by IU Health Positive Link.
Entertainment will take place at multiple venues, most predominantly at the historic Tivoli Theatre and outdoor venues, as well as the Spencer Pride commUnity center’s ballroom. Drag performances will take place at 2 and 5 PM in the theatre, while Drag Queen Storytime will take place at 4 PM in the ballroom. Other live entertainers performing at the festival include Bubba Wiggles, Quarryland Men’s Chorus, Tipsy Teasedale, Christa Crandall, TwoTone Entertainment, and Southern Indiana Taiko.
This is the first year that Kate Gehringer will be leading the event, having been elected last year as Spencer Pride’s new festival director. Gehringer, who has served as the festival’s marketplace coordinator for the past few years, plans to continue the storied legacy of the Spencer Pride Festival and help usher it into a new era. Fresh events, fresh ways of working, and fresh ideas are helping to fuel this year’s festival.
From noon until 2:30 PM, a STEM-fueled WonderFest will engage youth. WonderFest is hosted in collaboration with WonderLab Science Museum. At 3 PM, former Disney executive and out author Jim Fielding will be interviewed and will autograph copies of his book “All Pride, No Ego,” which was released last year. At 5 PM, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Raptor, Now What?” will be presented by Spencer Pride’s Rainbow Birders’ lead Wendy Wonderley.
A bounce house and other free inflatable activities will be available throughout the day for kids, and a special carnival area will provide some additional opportunity for fun (and prizes!).
Spencer Pride’s organizers are especially proud of their continued investment in making the festival a more accessible event, with several improvements underway for 2024, thanks in part to Gehringer’s establishment of a new Accessibility Coordinator role on the festival’s leadership council this year. Elisabeth Solchik, Spencer Pride’s recently elected vice president, was appointed to the role to lead the 2024 efforts. Fueled by financial support received from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Solchik, Gehringer and the volunteer team have hyper-focused on accessibility, investing more than $8,000 of related improvements for this year’s event.
“As an organization built on the principles of equality and inclusion, Spencer Pride wants to make our festival accessible to everyone, regardless of ability,” says Solchik.
Specific accessibility-related changes include wider marketplace aisles, an additional ramp access points in the vendor marketplace, ramped cord covers, and much more. The free Pride Shuttle, offered for the past several years, will now be accessible. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters will be utilized for Drag Queen Storytime and both of the drag shows, marking a first for Spencer Pride.
The 2024 festival theme is “Ready to Soar,” which is a reference to the strengthening of the organization’s programs and financial resources over the past couple of years, positioning them to make substantial leaps forward in working toward their mission.
“Similar to a fledgling bird, who has readied its body and mind to finally step off the ledge, spread its wings, and take to the wind, Spencer Pride is soaring to new heights,” says Spencer Pride’s president Jonathan Balash.
“We welcome everyone to come celebrate with us on October 5.”
For more information about the 2024 Spencer Pride Festival, visit: https://www.eventeny.com/events/spencerpride24-8718/.
The 2024 Spencer Pride Festival is sponsored in part by WTIU-WFIU, Boston Scientific, C.H. Douglas & Gray Wealth Management, Simtra, Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington, the ACLU of Indiana, and many more local and regional organizations.