Pride Festival · Every Summer Since 2009

Every year, we build
this place from nothing.

Help us build it again.

Light a LanternOur Story
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The World We Live In

The need is not
abstract.

Organizing queer joy in a climate of hostile legislation costs more each year. The clearing does not appear on its own.

68%

of LGBTQ+ youth report feeling isolated in their communities

— Trevor Project, 2024
3×

more likely to experience depression without access to affirming spaces

— CDC, 2023
$2.4M

cut from LGBTQ+ arts funding in our state over the last 3 years

— Arts Council Report, 2023
1 in 4

queer adults say a festival or community event changed the course of their life

— Gather Survey, 2025
How We Got Here

Fifteen years of
showing up.

Grainy photograph of a small outdoor gathering with folding tables and a handmade banner
2009
2009

A parking lot, 80 people, one borrowed speaker.

Marisol Reyes-Fontaine and a handful of friends set up folding tables in a church parking lot. They had no permit, no stage, and no plan beyond showing up. Eighty people came.

Photograph of a small outdoor stage with colorful lights and a crowd of about 400 people
2013
2013

The first stage. The first grant. The first headline act.

After four years of park permits and borrowed equipment, Gather received its first arts council grant: $4,200. They built a plywood stage. A local drag troupe headlined. The crowd was 400.

Warm-toned photo of a softly lit tent interior with cushions and a small group of people sitting quietly
2017
2017

The quiet room was born from necessity.

After a young attendee had a panic attack on the main lawn, volunteers improvised a corner of a tent. By 2018, the Quiet Room was a fixture — a sound-dampened space staffed by trained peer supporters.

Vivid full-color photograph of a large festival crowd with colorful flags and lanterns against a blue sky
2024
2024

12,000 people in the clearing.

Last year's festival spanned three days, four stages, and thirty community organizations. Youth ticket sponsorships sent 340 kids who couldn't otherwise afford to come.

What We Build

Sacred space
takes many forms.

Programming that holds the whole community — from the child on their first march to the elder who helped organize the first one.

Main Stage

Four stages, 60+ performers.

From established headliners to first-time drag debuts. Every stage is a platform built by and for the community.

Quiet Room

A room where you can exhale.

Sound-dampened, staffed by peer supporters. No questions, no agenda — just a place to land.

Youth Programming

For the kids who needed this at 14.

Age-appropriate workshops, mentorship, and a youth stage that belongs entirely to people under 18.

Community Market

80+ queer-owned vendors.

Every booth is a queer-owned or queer-allied business. Every purchase stays in the community.

Family Space

Strollers welcome. All ages.

Shaded family area, sensory-friendly activities, and programming designed for parents and children together.

The People in the Clearing

In their own
words.

I came alone in 2016. I was 19. I sat in the Quiet Room for an hour before I could walk out onto the lawn. That hour changed everything. I've been back every year since.

Jordan
Attendee since 2016

We brought our daughter for the first time last summer. She's seven. She watched two men waltz near the fountain and said, 'They're good at dancing.' That's all. That's the whole thing.

Priya & Marcus T.
First-time family attendees, 2024

I've been donating since the parking lot days. Back then $50 bought an extension cord. Now it sponsors a youth ticket. The scale changed. The intention never did.

Claudette M.
Donor since 2010

My drag name was born on that stage in 2019. I'd never performed before. The crowd was strangers. They weren't strangers by the end of the song.

Remy Soleil
Performer & volunteer since 2019

Our bakery has had a booth since 2018. We sell out every year by noon. But the real reason we come back is to see kids walking around with the flags we give away for free.

Tomás & Leila Okonkwo
Vendor since 2018
This is what your gift builds

This doesn't happen
without you.

Join 847 people who've already lit a lantern for 2026. The clearing is almost full.

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501(c)(3) Nonprofit·100% of donations fund programming·Tax-deductible gift·Secure giving