On Saturday Sept. 28, North Carolina will hold its annual Pride Festival at Duke University’s East Campus in Durham. The event is allinclusive and therefore it is not only for members of the LGBTQ+ community, but also for allies.
This year the parade will start at 11 a.m. on Main St. in Durham, and the festival itself will go from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Raleigh also has a Pride festival on the same day from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m.; however, the state’s festival is located in Durham.
The festival consists of a multitude of vendors with tents, food trucks and a magnificent parade that emphasizes inclusion. There are tents with items from clothes and jewelry to voter registration information and The North Carolina Greyhound Rescue. It is a happy occasion and draws a large audience. People of all ages attend, bringing their friends, dogs, and children
According to Durham Pride’s official website, the event that spawned the tradition of the Pride festival and parade occurred in 1981 when a group of individuals was attacked at the Little River in Durham. One of the people who was attacked later ended up dying in the hospital and protests broke out in front of the hospital. Starting in 1986, demonstrations that morphed into Pride festivals became an annual occurrence. The current demonstrations include a festival and a parade.
By Ell Shelp-Peck, Staff Writer