Pride in the Park marks 5-year milestone in Estes Park

Pride in the Park takes place this weekend in downtown Estes Park with an afternoon of music, vendors, guest speakers, community resources, and local celebration. The free event runs from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at George Hix Plaza and The Slab.

“This is our five-year milestone,” said Jenn Bass, lead organizer of Pride in the Park. “I want to say anniversary, but someone technically pointed out, after one year, that’s your one-year anniversary, so I’m like, ‘Fine, it’s a five-year milestone,’ that’s what I’m going to call it.”

Bass started Pride in the Park in 2022 after watching political attacks on LGBTQ+ people and other vulnerable communities intensify across the country. She said the first Pride in Estes Park happened the same day the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade was announced.

“It was a sucker punch, but it was also, like, we really gotta fight, because no one is safe,” Bass said. “With all the laws coming up, and I had this conversation with someone this morning, there isn’t a single state, including Colorado, that doesn’t have bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community.”

Bass grew up in the theater community and said LGBTQ+ friends, artists, and community members have long been part of her world. Creating a Pride event in Estes Park was one way to make that support visible in a small mountain town.

“I’ve always been an ally,” Bass said. “I’ve always been in that world, and I’m like, ‘Why is this an issue now?’ I don’t understand. It’s so bizarre to me. This is just one of my passions: fighting for vulnerable people.”

The event has gotten bigger each year. Bass said Estes Park’s broader LGBTQ+ community has also become more visible through events such as Coloring and Coffee with Queers at Raven’s Roast, Beers for Queers at Avant Garde, and monthly gatherings at The Stanley Hotel.

“It’s nice to see that it’s spreading and there’s fair representation in town,” Bass said. “It’s nice to see that, finally.”

This year’s Pride in the Park will include vendors selling local crafts and goods, information booths from community organizations, live music, guest speakers, and resources from groups including SummitStone Health Partners, Salud Family Health, and local churches. Bass said organizers are also adding clearer signage, a map, and an information booth to help visitors navigate the event.

Bass emphasized that the main Pride in the Park event is designed for all ages.

“The one thing I like to really reiterate is that this is family-friendly,” Bass said. “Some people and parents have approached us and said, ‘Thank you for this,’ because they want their kids to be involved with Pride and get to know that love is love.”

Weekend events begin Friday, June 5, with The Gay-LaLa, a new fundraiser celebrating “Five Fabulous Years of Pride in the Park.” Bass said the fundraiser will help cover Pride expenses, including insurance, permits, flyers, sound equipment, entertainment, and talent. Any money left after expenses will be donated to Salud and SummitStone in Estes Park because both organizations work directly with the LGBTQ+ community.

The Gay-LaLa will feature Christopher Siren, a classically trained pianist with New Orleans roots who is traveling from North Carolina, and Fragile Rock, an emo punk puppet band from Austin, Texas. Bass said the band has appeared on NPR’s “Tiny Desk,” performed at South by Southwest, and was once “proudly” booed off “America’s Got Talent.”

The weekend will continue Saturday night with Pride After Dark, an official after-party and drag show at Lonigans Saloon and Nightclub. Bass said the evening events have a different atmosphere than the daytime celebration, with the fundraiser limited to ages 21 and older and the after-party geared toward adults.

Behind the scenes, Pride in the Park has also become more organized. Last year was the first year Bass had a committee. This year, that committee has doubled in size to about eight to 10 people, many of them balancing Pride planning with full-time jobs.

“I feel confident enough or strong enough where we are with Pride that if I got hit by a bus or anything like that happened, it would have enough legs to kind of stand, and it would still go forward,” Bass said. “That’s huge. For me, that’s a proud mama moment.”

Bass said the committee hopes to become an official nonprofit by the end of the year. That change could make it easier to attract sponsors, expand programming, and support future work beyond a single weekend.

“I don’t want to merely make it corporate,” Bass said. “I love the feel of it being a small town, grassroots event, but I want to be able to have more flexibility with entertainment and make it easier for people to give us money. I’m totally open to whatever that looks like.”

The long-term goal, Bass said, is to better serve gaps in the community, especially for young people. She still thinks about a moment from the first year, when a young woman approached her after a drag show at an adult event.

“She just gave me a hug; she had tears in her eyes, and she said, ‘Jenn, I grew up here in this community, and it’s the first time I ever felt like I belonged,'” Bass said. “That meant so much, and that keeps me going.”

Bass is also dedicating this year’s Pride in the Park to Barb Marshall, a supporter who died about a year ago. Bass said Marshall once told her about doing hair and makeup for drag queens in Kansas City in the 1970s and 1980s, when police sometimes had to escort performers into venues because of threats outside.

“She just said, to be able to see that in this town, just to have it,” Bass said. “She was just in tears. She inspires me to keep going as well.”

Bass said Pride in the Park remains a celebration, but one rooted in the history of struggle and the present need for visibility.

“Pride started as a riot,” Bass said. “It started as a fight, to be heard, to be seen … And now it’s about fighting and celebrating at the same time. This year, Pride is especially important because there are so many anti-LGBTQ+ laws and bills being proposed.”

Five years in, Bass said that fight still matters in Estes Park, where the celebration may include more flannel than glitter but carries the same message.

“It is about visibility, representation,” Bass said, “and it really does affect a small little mountain town community like us.”