NORTHAMPTON — Whether it’s injecting more whimsy in festivities or rallying to preserve civil protections for queer communities, Hampshire Pride promises to be bigger and bolder for its third year under new leadership.

Saturday’s event, held in advance of Pride Month in June to allow Five College students to join, will feature 91 groups strutting down Bridge Street from Sheldon Field to Crafts Avenue in the organization’s largest parade yet. After the 11 a.m. parade, participants will gather in the parking areas next to the E. John Gare parking garage, where almost 123 businesses, artists and nonprofits will table with products and services. Additionally, two different stages, a drag stage and music stage, will provide joyous entertainment for festivalgoers. Nearly 15,000 came to Hampshire Pride last year, and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people are expected this year.

“The world is too serious and sometimes you need to step away from that and go into whimsy and camp and a little bit of fun,” said Clay Pearson, director of Hampshire Pride.

Hampshire Pride took over Northampton’s Pride celebration in 2023 after the pandemic canceled the festival and the organization that planned the event for decades, NoHo Pride, fizzled out. Pearson, along with Celina Almendarez and Kayla Abney, planned a full Pride parade and festival in nine weeks, reviving the spirit of Pride in the Pioneer Valley.

Rally

The celebration isn’t the only aspect of Hampshire Pride growing in scale. At 1 p.m., right after the parade, community-led group Northampton Resists will hold a rally featuring a series of LGBTQ+ activists who will suggest direct actions people can take to further their work protecting and enriching vulnerable communities.

“The first year (of Hampshire Pride) needed to happen, but we didn’t put a lot of thought into how and why we were doing things,” Pearson said. “The second year, we were getting better at understanding what the public was requesting, and there was a protest and people wanted to get more political. This year, we’re reacting yet again. There’s anger and resentment out there this year and we need to harness that into action”

Pearson approached Northampton Resists founder Mary Wang-Boucher at one of the rallies in March to ask about organizing a rally for Hampshire Pride. With the Trump administration’s recent reductions on civil rights for transgender individuals, she and fellow Northampton Resist’s organizer Carla Imperial-Jewett went to work to organize a “big tent” event that builds community around civil rights for the queer community.

“Unlike our past rallies that ended up political because of the political officials that volunteered to come,” Imperial-Jewett said, “this one is focusing on local activists doing really good work to make change against all the oppression that specifically LBGTQAI people have experienced.”

Northampton Resists is asking each of its speakers to suggest one action that rally participants can complete to make an impact in the LGBTQ+ community, whether it’s a monetary donation, volunteering time or emailing legislators about a upcoming law or bill. Rally attendees will also receive flyers with QR codes that link to each action to complete on the spot or pocket for later. At the Hampshire Pride rally, Imperial-Jewett said, speakers hail from a variety of queer activism movements, such as same-sex marriage, trans rights and lesbian BIPOC representation.

“Dehumanization has been used throughout history to make people afraid,” Wang-Boucher said. “The more we can say this is our story, this our name, this is happening to real people, the more we can bring empathy and change.”

Entertainment

Parents who wish to attend the rally but need an activity to preoccupy their children can go to a tent for Drag Story Hour at 1:30 p.m. A stage dedicated to drag performances in between Thrones Marketplace and the parking garage will show 20 drag performances from 2 to 6 p.m. Berkshire drag artist and Hampshire Pride Drag Coordinator Bella Santarella will anchor the entertainment as the master of ceremony.

“We have a wide range of talent and styles, from classic pageant drag to more edgy, alternative performances,” Santarella said. “It’s a reflection of the vibrant diversity of drag culture today.”

Each year, Hampshire Pride devotes a stage to drag performers as a tribute to the activism of drag artists in queer history. Pearson admitted he was a little hesitant to put the stage right in between Thornes and the parking garage, but changed his mind when he saw the reaction of audience members looking down from the parking garage.

“It reminded me of the Globe Theater of old,” Pearson said. “As much as I felt bad that I was giving the drag performers this corner area, it was so iconic how everyone was just packed in there in an echo chamber of joy.”

In addition to drag acts, a selection of DJ sets, choral performances and band acts by queer musicians will add to the atmosphere on another stage until the festival ends at 6 p.m.

Hampshire Pride will increase security this year to ensure vulnerable populations feel safe while enjoying the festivities. The Parasol Patrol will bring their rainbow umbrellas and towels to shield children from hecklers and counter-protesters during the parade. Should confrontations arise during the festival and parade, volunteer peacekeepers will intervene and deescalate the situations.

River Matos, volunteer coordinator at Hampshire Pride, adds that the organization is still accepting volunteers via the Hampshire Pride website. While they are mostly in need of anyone with medical experience for the medical tent, Matos will accept anyone who wants to help at whatever capacity they can. As a co-facilitator the past two years, Matos understands the importance of Pride for their community, and they hope to make the event a safe space for everyone involved.

“So many of us have been in such a dark place these past few months, and so many of us have the instinct to hide and isolate ourselves,” they said. “What we need is the opposite. We are not solitary creatures. The government can try to take away our rights, but they can’t take away our joy.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com