Lodi Pride event to focus on unity and community
A member of a local nonprofit organization is hoping an upcoming event celebrating unity and community will be a fun and positive time for all who attend.
Kat Ellis, secretary of A New Lodi, has spent the last three months coordinating the city’s first Pride Event. While events in larger cities take about 10 months to plan, Ellis and some 40 other community members have put together a celebration filled with a variety of entertainment, vendors, speakers and activities for youth.
“This is going to be a huge first Pride,” Ellis said. “There are going to be some things there that could have been planned better with COVID, but we’re doing the best we can with the circumstances. It’s going to be fun no matter what.
The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 5 at Highwater Brewing Company, 927 Industrial Way.
Ellis said the initial plan was to hold Pride at a local park. However, COVID-19 guidelines restrict gatherings to 25 people outdoors, and with those guidelines allowing more people to congregate after May 29, Ellis said it would be difficult to secure a location in six days.
So, someone suggested Ellis contact Highwater Brewing, which has a large open property that could accommodate gatherings and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
“I really wanted to do this somewhere that had the right energy,” she said. “So I looked them up, contacted Steve (Altimari,
brewmaster and owner), and he was really excited to host it and was excited about everything about it. I thought, this is the right energy.”
The event will feature dancers, singers, poets, comedians, and local bands, and Ellis is hoping to have Lodi City Council members, city and state officials speak.
There will also be a “kids zone” with COVIDsafe games, storytime, a pop-up play, and other activities for youngsters, along with as many as 25 vendors that will offer up art, crafts, do-it-yourself tie die shirts, LGBTQ information and food, among other wares.
NorCal Spirit, a Sacramento-based cheer squad, will also perform, Ellis said.
She said the idea to host a Pride event in Lodi stemmed from her own experiences coming out as bisexual to people in recent months.
“A few people didn’t respond too well,” she said. “I know there were a lot of people that didn’t quite understand, and struggled to understand what Pride is and what acceptance of Pride meant. I knew there was a real need for it and that there is support for it.”
Ellis said when she approached other members of A New Lodi about creating a Pride event, they were behind her, and let her take the lead on organizing the celebration.
She was then able to create a Pride event she wanted, and put it together with the help of Lodi’s LGBTQ community.
In the three months that word has gotten out a Pride event is planned, Ellis said she’s been flooded with support from other Lodians who have been afraid to come out.
“The drive for this has been huge,” she said. “I’ve gotten a phone call a day about it. The queer-identifying community in Lodi has been reaching out to me in tears. They feel so excited and happy, and I think they feel a little more validated.”
Social distancing will be enforced during the event, and groups who attend together will be required to stay together.
There will be a sanitizing station with enough sanitizer to last the whole day, and volunteers will canvas the brewery grounds with paper towels to clean surfaces and hand materials to guests on a consistent basis.
Ellis is hoping the event is something the entire Lodi community can embrace, and that future Prides will be bigger and better.
“I know there are people who want to know why we want a Pride event in the community,” she said. “But they don’t realize someone in this community has come out and has gone through trauma. This will be something to love and making this as positive and beneficial for the community is what we are striving for.”