Kentuckiana Pride Festival: June 17 & 18

After seeing ANOTHER EARTH yesterday at the Kentucky Center, Roommate and I hopped over to the Greek Festival for a quick bite. I'm not a huge fan of Greek food, but for just $5 I got a hummus and a small Greek salad that was a sufficient dinner.  And the Greek salad? Best I've ever had. I kind of want to go back today to have more-- this time I'll order a large.

But the best part of our brief stay at the Greek Festival was when the 6-piece band started to play and the dance floor filled with eager, soon-to-be-sweaty dancers of all ages.  I don't know what the Greek dances are called, but it's so nice to see that people are clearly still teaching them to the younger generations. A good quarter of the dancers were in their teens and early-twenties. Looked like the wedding scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding... is that tacky to say?

All that is to say, I loves me a festival on the Belvedere.  And during the summer it seems like there's a festival nearly every weekend.  Good for us.

The next one is the Kentuckiana Pride Festival.  The event is presented by the Kentucky Pride Foundation, whose mission states:

Kentuckiana Pride Foundation is a volunteer-based non-profit promoting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer/questioning and intersexed (GLBTQI) community in Kentuckiana's social, cultural and economic landscape. Each year on the Belvedere in downtown Louisville, we hold the Kentuckiana Pride Festival, a place where the GLBTQI community and its supporters can meet and celebrate, enjoying a variety of food, entertainment, and showcases from local and regional businesses and organizations.

The festivities start on June 17 at 8pm with the Festival Parade.  The parade starts at Tryangles at 209 S. Preston and makes its way down Market to Main and the Belvedere.  Friday night's festivities on the Belvedere start when the parade arrives and continue til 11p.  And they're free!

But the big day for the Festival is Saturday.  Performers start at noonish and run until 11pm or so.  I will admit to having been sucked into a couple of Ru Paul's Drag Race marathons, so I was kind of psyched to see Jade Sotomayor and Phoenix were on the bill.  Saturday's admission is $5, and there will be food and drinks and other vendors. Saturday's schedule:

12:00pm	Opening Ceremony: Pride Interfaith
1:00pm	Sibella
2:15pm	Dangerous Liaison
4:00pm	Sienna
4:45pm	Elliot Truman
5:30pm	Galaxy Girls
6:15pm	The Blue Umbrellas
7:30pm	Jenn Stout
8:45pm	La Boy Le Femme
9:00pm	Performances by: Cazwell Roxy Cottontail Adam Barta From RuPaul's Drag Race: Jade Sotomayor Phoenix

Please note, times are subject to change.

Listen Louisville, back in the day, long before I knew a dang thing about Louisville, I used to intellectually lump Tennessee & Kentucky together.  You know, like, "Tennessee... Kentucky... same diff!" Now I know that's just not true, but we do live across a border from a state that passed a law that makes it against the law to use the word "gay" in a public school classroom.  While this festival is largely aimed at the LGBTQI members of the Louisville community, you know some a**holes from other communities will be out there with their signs and their bigotry.  So, you know.... go.... whether you're LGBTQI or not.  Go to the parade, swing by the fest, bring your kids. I have a pretty strong feeling that if you're reading my blog, you know why and you know what I mean.

And enjoy a little George Takei Vs. Tennessee's "Don't Say Gay" law while you're at it.