Drag shows, beer tent, Attorney General Dana Nessel coming to Jackson Pride Festival

Jackson Pride

Scenes from the Jackson Pride parade and festival in downtown Jackson on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018. (J. Scott Park | MLive.com) J. Scott ParkJ. Scott Park

JACKSON, MI – June may be National Pride Month, but Aug. 18-24 is pride week this year in the city of Jackson.

A week's worth of events are underway, leading up to the third annual Jackson Pride Festival and parade on Saturday, Aug. 24. The Jackson Pride Center is putting on the events throughout the week.

Saturday’s parade starts at 11 a.m. from St. John’s United Church of Christ, 801 S. Mechanic St., to north on Mechanic Street, east on Cortland Street, north on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and west on Michigan Avenue. The parade ends near the festival entrance, at Jackson Street and Michigan Avenue.

The event has a $10 recommended donation and is family friendly, said Deon Claiborne, Jackson Pride Center board member and an organizer of the event.

"Everyone is welcome," Claiborne said. "A lot of times, people think that this is just a party for the LGBT community. But we couldn't really make it in the world without our allies, people who stand up for us."

Attorney General Dana Nessel is the grand marshal and is one of four keynote speakers. Nessel's wife has a prior commitment and can't attend the festival, Claiborne said. Nessel, elected in 2018, was the first openly gay candidate to run for statewide office in Michigan.

"That's important to see leaders who reflect our experience," Claiborne said.

Bands are scheduled to perform throughout the afternoon and evening, including headliner SuperKnova, a Chicago-based transgender artist. Drag performances at 8:30 p.m. finish off the festival.

The festival also includes a beer tent, food trucks, vendors, a youth area and more. Details on events throughout the week – like a film festival and drag pageant – can be found on the Jackson Pride Center website.

The event had about 750 people in 2018, but the goal is to top 1,000 this year, Claiborne said. Without other pride events to compete with, Claiborne said the center hopes to draw people from across the state.

“June is so packed with pride activities all over the state. It’s a logistics issue,” Claiborne said. “Between all the pride fests going on everywhere in Michigan in June and everything going on in Jackson, literally this was the only date where we managed to carve out a little space.”

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