Rainbows Festival is back. Here’s a guide to the fun
The Rainbows Festival offers a space where gay, lesbian, transgender, nonbinary, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and allied individuals can come together to celebrate and be who they are.
Phoenix Pride will present the 2022 Rainbows Festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 30-May 1, at Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. The petfriendly event will have a street-fair feel with two stages of entertainment, food trucks and booths from local businesses and organizations.
Mike Fornelli, Phoenix Pride’s executive director, says that after moving the Phoenix Pride Festival to November, it made sense to have the Rainbows Festival in the spring.
“We decided that we’re going to keep the (Pride) festival in the fall from now on and have Rainbows in the spring. It was the perfect opportunity to flip-flop it. It was something that we have been wanting to do anyhow but had to figure out how to do it,” Fornelli said.
What to expect at the Phoenix Rainbows Festival
Fornelli explained what fairgoers can
look forward to at the Rainbows Festival.
“With Rainbows being more of a street fair feel, people come and go. You will see somebody there in the morning with their kids and their partner, and then you will see them there later in the evening with a whole different group of
friends,” Fornelli says.
On the main stage, the Saturday headliner will be Ada Vox, a drag performer and singer who has appeared on “American Idol.” The Sunday headliner will be Canadian multi-platinum dance/pop artist Mia Martina.
The main stage will be hosted by local drag performers Aimee V. Justice and Benaddiction. Drag performer Yoyo Blackfire will host on the community stage. Both stages will present local musicians, dancers, a theater troupe, femme and male entertainers, circusstyle acts and drag performers.
Throughout the weekend, the newly crowed Miss Phoenix Pride Desiree DeMornay and Mister Phoenix Pride Roman Holiday will perform. The two competed in March at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Other contestants who took part in the pageant will also be performing throughout the weekend.
This class of contestants raised a record $50,000 for the Phoenix Pride Scholarship Program, which benefits high school, college and graduate students from Arizona.
Here’s what else visitors can do at the festival:
● Learn about local businesses and organizations that serve the LGBTQ community.
● Meet exhibitors with cannabis products and services.
● Buy food from vendors and food trucks with a variety of cuisines, including vegan and vegetarian options.
● See artwork from more than 30 participants in the Phoenix Pride Creative competition.
Accessibility at Rainbows Festival
Phoenix Pride is taking additional steps this year to make Rainbows Festival even more accessible.
For the deaf community, there will be interpreters on both the main and community stages.
The main stage will have an accessibility area in front for people with mobility issues and for deaf individuals
who want to be able to better see interpreters. Wristbands to get into this area are available at the information booth.
The festival will have accessible restrooms, and interpreters will be available at the information booth.
Stella Kowalczyk, director of community engagement for Phoenix Pride, says making the Phoenix Pride and Rainbows festivals accessible is important.
“It is a part of our community that needs and deserves to have opportunities to attend our festival. So, I want to assure that our festivals are as accessible as we can make them,” Kowalczyk says.
‘I want to be with my chosen family again’
People often volunteer at the festival because they are part of the LGBTQ community and want to give back or are supporting someone important in their lives. Kowalczyk says many volunteers are excited to be back this year.
“‘I’ve been disconnected from my community for so long’ or ‘I just need to get back.’ ‘I just want to be with my chosen family again.’ ‘I need to get back.’ I’ve heard that a lot,” Kowalczyk says.
Kowalczyk has an adult son who is transgender. She says he is part of her motivation to help create an environment where LGBTQ people feel accepted and affirmed.
“I very much want to make sure that the next generation, the next generation and the next generation feels safe and feels OK to be authentically themselves,” Kowalczyk says.