The first-ever NWI Pridefest brought local food trucks, several vendors, performers and nonprofit organizations together in Lake Station this weekend to kick off a month where the LGBTQ+ community celebrates its past and progress.
The two-day event drew hundreds of people to Riverview Park in Lake Station, where organizers hope that the festival has found its forever home.
Maggie Ziembicki, a Hobart resident and vice-president of NWI Pridefest, said this was something that has taken about a year to get to the finish line.
“Just seeing all of these people this weekend, I have been holding back tears the past two days,” Ziembicki said. “It’s been a project of mine, I came up with the idea, and now it’s happening. And we are able to do some great things for charities, too.”
All of the profits will be donated to LGBTQ+ and youth charities including The Trevor Project, Indiana Youth Group, The Damien Center and the Center on Halsted.
Organizers said the first day, which had lower attendance due to rain, resulted in $3,000 of donations collected. They won’t have a final weekend tally until later, but are happy with the amount collected as of Sunday afternoon.
Leah Peksenak, of Portage and president of NWI Pridefest, said she sees Riverview Park as the event’s long-term home. Ultimately they plan for more sponsors, vendors and performers for next year.
“I asked a friend what would be a safe place to have this, and people said Lake Station, because Mayor Bill (Carroll) is openly gay,” Peksenak said. “And the city provided us with security, use of the park and everything. They’ve been really helpful and supportive every step of the way.”
Stage performances included drag queen performances from Jewels and Gems as well as local musical artists like Leslie Nuss. About 40 vendors of crafts, food and more surrounded the stage.
“We were prepared for this to be a flop,” Peksenak said. “But it’s been so obvious that the community is hungry for something like this. You see everyone smiling and having a good time. I’ve heard people say, ‘Who would’ve thought there’d be something like this in Northwest Indiana?’ You can see that this really means something to people.”
One niche ally includes pickleball enthusiasts such as Hugh Harshbarger of Hobart, who runs Play It Forward Pickleball. During the fest, they hosted tournaments on the park’s new courts. Harshburger, his husband of 30 years, and their son have found a thriving sense of community in the sport that is inclusive to all.
“For this fest to have this kind of backing from Lake Station, they’re giving them a foundation to start something great,” Harshbarger said. “The city is committed to make sure they can sustain a great event here and grow, and we are proud to be a part of that.”
Harshbarger said when he was growing up in the 1970s, it was a different world for gay men.
“It’s been surreal to see the progress we have made,” he said. “But despite that, there are still people in our community who struggle with coming out to their families and people around them.
“This event is awesome, it really is” Sherri Green, of Hobart, said. “Every community should have something like this.”
Moon Budnik, of Valparaiso, celebrated her first pride event at the Lake Station park with her mother, Heather Budnik, both of whom volunteered at the Christ Lutheran Church vendor tent.
“My favorite part of the event has been getting to see other queer people, and getting to see it’s not as small of an amount of people as I thought it was,” Moon Budnik said. “It’s important for queer youth like me. Some of them don’t feel accepted by their families or their communities.”
Jen Kawa, owner of Jen’s Home Goodies, created multi-colored sugar cookies for the event.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie here,” Kawa said. “Everyone is so friendly and loving. And it’s cool they have so many different things here, they have someone crafting bandanas and people making tamales. They have Rocky Horror performers here. It’s a little of everything. Yesterday (Saturday) was rainy, but it really brought out the rainbow.”
Tifani Sanders, of Rocky Horror in Abundance, and the crew performed in costume on stage, getting the audience to dance along to the famous “Time Warp.” The group performs out of Avenue 912 in Griffith year-round and has several LGBTQ+ cast and crew members.
“This is our first pride event, and really our first fest, that we have performed at,” Sanders said. “We take strong priority in making our group a safe place for LGBTQ people to be themselves.”
Sanders said the performance group spends many holidays together, with special Thanksgiving traditions, as some are not accepted by their families.
“We haven’t had a pride event in Northwest Indiana in a while, and I am glad this is coming back,” Sanders said. “It’s so important, especially in this area because we have seen more confidence when it comes to hate, the confidence of people who don’t accept this. But this shows that there’s plenty of us that want this. The LGBTQ community is so big in Northwest Indiana, especially among young people, that if we don’t have events like this, how will they know this community even exists? How will they know this support for them exists?”
Peksenak said one of her favorite things about this being in the Region is showing that the LGBTQ+ community is alive and thriving in Northwest Indiana, despite the challenges they face.
“Twenty-six percent of Gen Z is LGBTQ — that’s not a small amount,” Peksenak said. “I think coming to an event like this, people can see that where they live is an accepting place. It’s not just big cities, but the towns we live in, where we can find that support.”
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
