Pikes Peak Pride Festival: “Unite with Pride”

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The annual Pike’s Peak Pride event is taking place all weekend Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9, at Alamo Square Park in downtown Colorado Springs. The theme is ‘Unite with Pride’ and organizers say this event will have more than 130 vendors and a parade.

“We get to show up as ourselves and be seen for who we are and love for who we are without having to pretend we’re something we’re not,” says Mallory Everhart, one of the performers at the event.

The 2024 Pikes Peak Pride Festival kicked off Saturday with more than 100 vendors in the park, food trucks, and entertainment.

“I’m like, oh my gosh, these are my people! You get to relax and just be who you are instead of worrying about how you’re going to be perceived,” added Everhart.

With more than 17,000 attendees, people went all out wearing their best looks to represent their authentic selves.

“We would like to see, as an organization of Pikes Peak Pride, is to not have to have a celebration like this that, you know, everybody just accepts and loves each other for who they are, no matter what,” says Matt Radcliffe, director of marketing and public relations for Pike’s Peak Pride.

One of Saturday’s performers was Angelique Fantastique. She says she gave the performance of her life on stage, and it brought her to tears.

“It was perfection, like literally, one of my favorite numbers I’ve ever done in my life,” added Angelique Fantastique.

While it was a celebration it was also a remembrance of the Club Q shooting.

“The most important part of drag is, honestly, kind of exploring my inner self because I feel like once I get all of my drag on, I feel really like Angelique is there, you know, because out of drag, I am kind of a different person and, more so, reserved. So, it makes me happy that I get to show up and show out and be, like, sparkly, you know?” said Angelique Fantastique.

She says that she used to be a performer at Club Q and thinks about each victim every time she gets on stage.

“I honestly felt like such a connection to the audience. To me, it’s not about the money, it’s about the feeling that you bring to these people. I want to make all these people happy,” she added.

The community is hoping to keep the energy up for Sunday’s parade and years to come.

The Pride Parade will kick off at 11 a.m. and runs along Tejon Street from Platte to Vermejo Ave.

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