Great Falls Pride kicks off Pride Week with a parade Sunday from Great Falls Plaza in Auburn to Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. Each day of the week features a queer-friendly event, including kickball, a wine tasting, a printmaking class, storytelling and a queer Dungeons & Dragons tournament. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal LEWISTON — Great Falls Pride held its first march Sunday, beginning at Great Falls Plaza in Auburn and ending at Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston.
Following the march, Great Falls Pride held its first festival along Oxford Street in Lewiston, near the weekly farmers’ market. Originally L-A Pride, Great Falls Pride took over for its first year with local Alex Pine at the helm of the new organization. Pine said L-A Pride had held an event every year since 2007, and some of the people from that organization carried over into the new one.
“We sort of think that this is a rebirth, here, a version 2.0,” Pine said. “We wanted this event to bring people together to build a community, to find people a safe space to share, borrow and have fun.
Love — that’s what it’s all about.” The event hosted about 60 vendors, Pine said, including the farmers’ market stalls which continued operating in support of the event. Pine estimated more than 200 Pride marchers and festivalgoers, with numbers at the festival that were closer to 1,000, including farmers’ market patrons, according to Gia Drew, the executive director of EqualityMaine.
Jess Sullivan.
