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The Friendlier City Project will hold its inaugural Pride Month festival, Pride on the Plaza, this Saturday from 3-9 p.m. at Market Street Plaza in downtown Wheeling. Local residents will have the opportunity to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and community at a family-friendly event.
Mikaya Green, co-founder of The Friendlier City Project, says the festival is part of an effort to bring visibility to LGBTQ+ members and allies in the Ohio Valley.
"Obviously, June is Pride Month and it's very important because, especially in Ohio and West Virginia, there are lawmakers every single day who try to put out legislation that is against the LGBTQIA+ community," she said. "We want to show legislators in the community that there is an LGBTQ+ group here, there always has been and there always will be."
The event will feature live entertainment, local vendors, food trucks and art installments. The event currently has over 30 local vendors and organizations slated to attend.
The festival will also incorporate a series of community tables that enables local and statewide organizations to provide resources to attendees. Organizations include the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, Fairness WV, Project Hope, the National Alliance of Mental Illness Greater Wheeling, Grow Ohio Valley, Morgantown Pride, the Ohio Valley Public Library, Wheeling Heritage and Oglebay Institute.
Green says she hopes the community tables help LGBTQ+ members discover resources closer to home.
"I think the community tables will really set our Pride festival apart from past Pride festivals," she said. "We really want to not only have a good time but to be able to provide resources to the LGBTQ community."
Live entertainment will begin at 3:30 p.m. with Appalachian singer Ananga Martin taking the stage. An award ceremony recognizing influential community members is set to follow at 4:30 p.m. with trivia taking the stage at 5 p.m. Acoustic trio the New Age Adenas is slated to play at 5:30 p.m. with Zane Run, a rock and roll and country clash, closing out the night.
Ellery McGregor, event coordinator for The Friendlier City Project, says the organization made an effort to collaborate with as many local businesses and artists as possible and that this will continue in the future.
"I think that a big goal of this event is really building up our reputation, getting the community and local businesses involved and starting to throw more events," she said.
The Friendlier City Project is a nonprofit organization that was founded last year by a small group of local LGBTQ+ citizens and allies who aim to create a prosperous LGBTQ+ community in Wheeling.
Wheeling City Councilwoman and co-founder of The Friendlier City Project, Rosemary Ketchum, says the organization's creation stemmed from a lack of local representation in comparison to other parts of the state.
"We have a lot of wonderful LGBTQ+ organizations across the state, but we didn't feel that feeling was well represented locally," she said. "Particularly in the big five: Parkersburg, Morgantown, Huntington, Charleston, and Wheeling, Wheeling really was the only one that didn't have a thoughtful and strong LGBTQ+ organization."
The Friendlier City Project responded to public comments expressing concern about the event at a city council meeting last month. Many LGBTQ+ community members and allies attended the meeting alongside The Friendlier City Project, with several signing up to speak on the festival's behalf.
Ketchum says the festival is a time for people to celebrate and look beyond past controversy.
"We're not looking to be hateful, and we're not looking to double down on any of that rhetoric," she said. "We just want to do good things, host fun celebrations of identity and ultimately make people feel safer and make good on the promise that we are The Friendly City."
Green says she hopes The Friendlier City Project and its events create an environment that keeps young people from leaving the Ohio Valley.
"I definitely think the main long-term goal for me. personally, is to keep people here, to keep LGBTQIA+ people in the Ohio Valley and to not make them feel like they have to move to big cities to be able to express themselves," she said.