Pride Fest 2024

Packed House at Potawatomi Park

This weekend I attended my first Pride Fest with my daughter and her friend Brianna. This brought back memories of when I took those two to Warp Tour in Chicago a few years in a row when they were in High School. I still have fond memories of the Parent Day Care where I sat most of the day watching Harry Potter. Fast Forward many years and here I was at the Pride Fest put together by The LGBT Center in South Bend. I once again volunteered my services to take pictures of the event.

This years Pride Fest was at Potawatomi Park and from what I am told, this years event was much larger than the year before. I know it was fairly large, it took me almost an hour to get through the first half of all the tables and tents. There were so many people, all dressed in their colors and rainbows. I had an absolute blast just walking around and seeing how much fun everyone was having.

The Pets were the best

I really didn’t know what to expect in terms of shooting the event, I went about it just like most events and tried to get the best candid shots I could. If there is one thing that caught my attention, it was the pets. So many people brought their pets out and I loved seeing them and got some great shots of a couple of nice dogs. One table, I think it was the Pet Refuge, even brought out their Raccoon and Baby Raccoon. I think one of the best shots I got all day was a little guy who was looking proud to be out there.

I’m really glad my daughter talked me into volunteering for these events. I saw a couple of my students out there, which was a surprise for them to see me, I know I could tell it on their face. It was cool to see how happy and how much of a good time everyone was having, despite the protesters trying to dampen everyone’s spirit. The huge colored umbrellas did the trick hiding those guys in the background and they eventually left.

Food Truck selling great eats

Did I mention the food, if not, thanks for giving me time because I tried one of the best brownies I have ever eaten. I don’t recall the name of the older lady that made them, but my gosh, they were so good and not sweet at all. The chocolate didn’t even over power the taste and they were so soft and chewy. And some guys were grilling up burgers and hotdogs, I had to get me one of those dogs, they were tasty.

Overall, the event was awesome. There were many people tabling selling their creations and people just having a good time. A couple of bands were playing music I personally wouldn’t listen to, but it was great to watch the kids dancing and having a good time. If there was only one complaint from me, it would have been the Porter Pottys. I think a few more were needed because man, let’s just say that whole two minutes deserves it own blog. lol

One last thing, my shot of the day belongs to this little girl who walking with her Pride Flags straight in the air. I noticed her walking but as people were walking across right in front of me I didn’t think I was going to be able to get a shot. I got lucky and snapped the photo at the perfect time. As you can see below, she was the main focus and everything else around her is faded out, thank you God I had a F2.8 lens.

My shot of the day