Father Matt Wahlgren presented Community Heart Award at Fremont Pride Festival

Fremont hosted the fourth annual Pride Festival at Walsh Park on Saturday, featuring a diverse lineup of performers, vocalists, artists, food trucks and vendors. Around 500 people from throughout Ohio attended.

The Pride Festival celebrates and supports the LGBTQIA+ community of Fremont and other counties. The event features a family fun zone with lawn games and a drag story hour along with other activities.

“This is the first time we have been to Pride, and it's very friendly and better than I thought it would be,” said Zen Jackson of Bellevue.

“I feel like they have a good selection of vendors and food, and the performances are really good," Russell Jackson said.

Frenchy and Gior performed on the main stage along with burlesque and drag shows and the Pride Pageant.

Baha Blast performs throughout Ohio

Performer Baha Blast expressed great enthusiasm for the event. Blast recently stepped down from a title in Toledo and performs throughout Ohio and Michigan.

First-time performer at Fremont Pride, Le Fayrah said, “I love this event, and I love working with Stevie Phoenix and meeting other performers.”

Phoenix was host of the event again this year, and a fellow performer.

Father Matt Wahlgren attended the event and was awarded the Dameon Caldwell Community Heart Award to recognize his support of the LGBTQIA+ community. He previously served at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fremont and currently is at St. Timothy’s in Perrysburg.

The event had many vendors selling LGBTQIA+ apparel, candles, stickers, dolls and flags. Other booths had activities, like the Birchard Library that offered a free wand-making station.

Oki3 Toki3, a performer from Columbus, while making her own wand said, “I am glad that there are small towns willing to open their doors and their hearts to people of different genders and different colors, and seeing diversity is such a win; this opens my heart.”

Many people attended the event who represented and celebrated confidence, self-respect, expression and openness about one’s identity. Resource booths included Compass Behavioral Health, Northwest Oho LGBTQ+ Coalition, S.A.F.E., The American Cancer Society and Humana. A truck also had Free STI/ HIV testing.

Mara West, who attended Fremont Pride for the first time and is not from Ohio, said, “These events are great to have for people who feel a little different and are not sure how to become their true selves. I love a little town like this, supports each other.”

After the Fremont Pride Festival, the festivities were to continue at Da Love Pitt on State Street. They were to include the Drag Queen winners, the Pride Pageant winners, and other performances.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Father Matt Wahlgren presented Community Heart Award at Fremont Pride Festival