Chicago Pride Fest took over the Lakeview area in Chicago’s North Side on June 17 and 18, 2023. Presented by the Northalsted Business Alliance, this two-day street festival featured live performances, contests, and over 150 vendors along the route. Around 60,000 people attend Pride Fest every year the weekend before the massive Pride Parade that commemorates the Stonewall uprising on the last Sunday in June.
Streets were blocked off from the intersection of Halsted Street and Addison Street to Broadway Street and Waveland Avenue with a $15 donation suggested at the entrances to benefit local businesses and the surrounding neighborhood.
Talented acts performed simultaneously on multiple stages over the course of the weekend between the hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Some of the performers over the weekend included British talent Heather Small from the dance act M People, bisexual electronic pop singer Slayyyter and Ukrainian songwriter Nick Osin, among others.
The newly titled Ultra Beauty Stage on Waveland Avenue was the hot spot for fans of electronic dance music who wanted to hear their favorite DJ spin the tunes. The South Stage will have a name change if purchased by a sponsoring entity in 2024.
The street festival organizers changed the name from last year’s Bud Light Seltzer Stage to Nutrl Vodka Stage possibly in response to the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, although both hard seltzers are owned by Anheuser-Busch.
Youth Pride Space returned to Pride Fest for its second year to create a safe space inside the festival for ages 13 through 18. The goal for the special area was to provide counseling, support and giveaways for the younger generation.
Vendors with tented booths along the strip ranged from 21 Seeds Tequila to Garrett Popcorn Shops, many providing product samples.
Several healthcare agencies hosted tables full of free merchandise to increase awareness of their services like Molina Healthcare of Illinois and Fertility Centers of Illinois with some focusing specifically on HIV prevention such as Calor, ViiV Healthcare and AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Aura and Aeriz products’ Daze Off presented products from the world of cannabis while Jeep, Volkswagen and Amtrak gave transportation ideas to festival goers.
A Proud Pet Parade marched down Halsted Street beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday with drag personality Miss Foozie leading the pack. While exotic animals are not allowed to participate, this was the first year for a pig to enter the competition and Rhoda was ready to roll down the road.
Other highlights from the two-day celebration were local cheering up from Chicago Spirit Brigade and snappy songs sung by Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles.
The Northalsted Business Alliance makes use of funds from street parties such as Pride Fest to pay for installations including the Chicago Pride Crosswalks that cover 14 nearby intersections. This year’s Chicago Pride Fest clearly showed a return to massive attendance and celebration for the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters.
