An Aroostook group will join Pride Month activities with its sixth annual community festival on Saturday.
The gathering will take place at Presque Isle’s Riverside Park.
The Pride Aroostook Festival is believed to be northern Maine’s largest Pride-focused event and is one of many happening around the state this month. The festival supports people who identify as LGBTQ+ and offers an inclusive community event, according to organizers.
“It’s important to continue to have Pride festivals, especially for the youth who are maybe questioning or coming into their identities and seeking adult mentors,” said Shawna Traugh, board chair of Pride Aroostook. “I just think it’s really important that we continue to have Pride in our community, because without it, it shows that we’re not accepted.”
Pride Aroostook formed in 2019, sparked by community members who realized there wasn’t as much visibility for LGBTQ+ people as there should have been, Traugh said. Organizers included Aroostook Mental Health Services Inc., the Boys and Girls Club of Border Towns and the Department of Justice.
The group aims to support all ages, particularly youth, creating a safe association with people who care, Traugh said.
Pride happenings are slated around the state this month, including in Bangor, which will culminate in its Pride Festival on June 27. Other events are taking place in Bar Harbor, Ogunquit and Belfast, according to Out Maine.
Pride Aroostook collaborates with statewide organizations that are bringing other events north, Traugh said.
Besides the festival, Queerly Maine will host a trail mixer and community conversation at 11 a.m. Saturday at Presque Isle’s Northern Maine Community Trails, and Maine Trans Net is hosting a Friday evening event. The Presque Isle United Church of Christ plans a Pride service.
On Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Big Gay Picnic will host lunch at Mantle Lake Park, and Equality Maine’s Network of Older Adults will be present.
Presque Isle typically raises a flag at Riverside Park for the month, but timing changed those plans, Traugh said.
“The reason we didn’t have a flag raising was not because the city wasn’t accepting, but just a glitch on our part to put the application in on time,” Traugh said. “Historically the city has been very supportive.”
The festival returns to the park this year after a switch to the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 2025. Traugh is glad to be returning to the outdoors venue that brings more visibility and vitality to the event, which typically draws 400 to 600 people.
A deejay and a live band will provide music, and participants can join a mini parade and walk from Riverside to Main Street and back. Vendors will feature such things as art, crafts and baked goods, and food providers will include Presque Isle’s Fern and Forest Baking Company, Mars Hill-based beverage truck A Different Point of Brew, The Goodman Grill and Pucker Up Lemonade.
The festival’s unique poetry experience will take place once again, Traugh said. People are invited to write a meaningful word or passage, and a Pride Aroostook officer will combine all of them into a poem.
Vendors will set up from 2 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the festivities going from 3 to 7 p.m.
Traugh enjoys seeing people getting out in the community in a positive atmosphere.
“I get super happy seeing people showing off their pride and being in a great space, and we’re not focusing on negatives,” Traugh said. “We’re just there, happy and enjoying each other.”
