Hannah Rivers

Oct. 10, 2016

It was a sea of color at this year’s Fall for Pride festival on Sunday at Antelope Park.

Rainbow flags and banners dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. People wore bright clothing and had vibrantly colored hair. Everyone in the community was welcomed, but there was an emphasis on creating an inclusive space for those in the QUILTBAG (Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Transgender/Transsexual, Bisexual, Allied/Asexual, Gay/Genderqueer) community.

The free, family-friendly event was hosted by Common Root Mutual Aid Center and sponsored by Outlinc and KZUM. There was live music, local vendor booths, food and lots of free activities — including a yoga session, coloring, pumpkin painting and a mini music class for young children.

The purpose of Fall for Pride is to be inclusive of everyone in the Lincoln area.

“It’s about celebrating the differences and similarities in the community,” said Lacey Losh, community organizer at Common Root.

This year there were 45 local vendors that had booths with LGBTQIA+ friendly resources. Organizations like Planned Parenthood and Outlinc were present, but there were also booths dedicated to specific events, like So What Slam (a monthly slam poetry event). Others offered information on specific topics, from constellations to origami to atheism. 

To organize the event, Common Root used a team of volunteers that came together to plan every aspect of Fall for Pride. For the booths, everybody voted on each one to decide whether or not it aligns with the values of the festival. No one is really turned down though, since the majority of vendors who want to have a booth are the type of people that Common Root wants to be there.

Now in its second year, Fall for Pride 2016 was twice as large as it was in 2015. It was still in the same location, but now instead of just having the band shell, the event also was held in the Auld Pavilion. This allowed for double the amount of musical entertainment, vendor booths and poetry.

“It has the same community centered feel, but it’s much larger,” said Losh.

On the schedule for the outside stage were performances by Noto Swing, This Machine Kills Vibes, The Morbs and Hana Zara —w hile the inside stage hosted speakers, slam poetry and what was referred to as “infotainment.”

When asked why she wanted to be involved in Fall for Pride, Chelsea — who is the bassist/drummer/vocalist of The Morbs — said that the short answer is “human beings.” This event is all about celebrating people and creating art and making music.

“This is my community and it’s really great to come out and celebrate all the great people we have in this community,” she said.