The normally all-green spread of Sullivan Lake Park was filled with bright and festive colors for the Third Annual Heights Pride Festival on a beautiful fall Saturday. Following the success of the first festival in 2019, last year’s event was virtual. This year, sponsors moved the date to October 9 after Twin Cities Pride scheduled their event on the same, previously-chosen July day, to allow everyone to attend both.
More than 50 organizations, non-profits and vendors had booths along the park’s meandering paths, selling paintings, sculpture, crochet work, jewelry, books from local publishers, hemp products, burlap art and artisanal jam. Among the non-profit tables were the Minnesota Transgender Alliance, Community United Methodist Church, Southern Anoka Community Assistance, Transforming Families, ERA Minnesota, One Voice Mixed Chorus, and Columbia Heights Recreation. Visitors were greeted by event sponsors, including Nathan Johnson and Barry Leavitt of Lavender magazine and Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula.
Music under the park shelter roof came from DJ K Reeves, Kiki Latham, OVation (an ensemble of One Voice mixed chorus) and Lily, with poet Sophie Kuether, Mistress Ginger and Drag Queen India B. West. And, of course, face-painting and food trucks. More than 800 people made their way through the park during the six-hour event.
HeightsNEXT was the primary sponsor. During the pandemic last year, a “Columbia Heights PRIDE of Homes” tour was set up; homeowners were asked to create outdoor lawn exhibits to proclaim support for Heights Pride. This year, more than a half-dozen homes were part of an online tour map.
Mayor Márquez Simula, one of the main event organizers, said, “Our 2021 Pride Festival drew in a whole new group of volunteers and vendors. After going through 18 months of quarantines, our community was eager to make this happen!” She said that she heard from people of every age, gender and culture who she is sure feel very welcome in “our little three-square-mile city.” While no city is perfect, she added, “The LGBTQ community in Columbia Heights feels supported, welcomed, and proud to be part of a city with its eyes on the future.”
Simula credited husband Frost Simula, Laurel Deneen, Courtney Ault, Ray Muno, Mike Schell, Becky Groseth, Kiki Latham, and Angie Nielsen for their work on the event.
Below: Julie Marie at her booth. Visitors among the more than 50 vendor tents set up in Sullivan Lake Park for the annual Heights Pride Festival. Attendees, vendors, exhibitors, and performers rounded out the Festival. (Photos by Mark Peterson)
