Organizers of the First Annual Huron County Pride Festival say the inaugural event received an “overwhelmingly positive” response.

Tim Damon, Chair of the Huron County Pride board, estimates well over 200 people attended their day-long festival in Goderich Courthouse Square on June 10.

The day was full of events from yoga, to artisan markets, to opening and closing ceremonies, but Damon says there were a few that drew the biggest crowds.

“I think the highlights for people based on the attendance I saw around the stage were the drag performances,” he says. “These were family-friendly performances as well so there were a lot of kids jumping around in the crowd and dancing. The drag queens really engaged with the kids who were there and they just had a ton of fun. Not just the drag queens but also the drag kings. I think the drag performances, the health experts and the Bayfield Ukulele group were some of the highlights.”

The board will begin shifting to planning the 2024 festival this week, and they’ve already received a few tips on how they could improve things for next year.

“We did receive some feedback on not having food trucks at the festival,” says Damon. “Our rationale was, you know there are restaurants around the square that we really wanted to be showcased and supported. We thought we could take our hands off the food this year and let them really sell. What we did provide was a community picnic area so people could bring there meals into the festival and eat together. So having a food truck would be something for us to consider and then people were also asking about why there wasn’t a parade. It was just the festival itself, so things for us to build on next year.”

The First Annual Huron County Pride Festival took place in Goderich on June 10. (Photo courtesy of Huron County Pride)

Huron County Pride launched less than a year ago and they’ve been able to connect with volunteers through a few town halls and a drag bingo event last fall. With the way the organization has grown over that time, culminating in the June 10 event, Damon says it shows there is tons of local support for the LGBTQ2S+ community.

“I really think the message is that Huron County is a space for everyone,” he says. “It’s not the Huron County that people may have seen in the past, there’s a lot more progressiveness and forward thinking that I hope was really conveyed in the messaging of our festival: Huron County is for everyone, everyone is welcome here.”

To learn more about Huron County Pride, visit there website.