Bad weather postponed Saratoga Pride’s annual celebration in June. But the excitement was just as strong over the weekend at the rescheduled event.
High Rock Park in Saratoga Springs is packed — today’s event has been a long time coming.
Severe weather in June, Pride Month, forced organizers to seek a later date. Due to the busy summer season, September 15th became the rain date.
Saratoga Pride volunteer Cindy Swadba is just grateful to see it finally all come together.
“It’s a gloriously beautiful day, it’s a wonderful day to be proud, not that we’re not proud every month, but we have joyous activity going on, 40 tablers, drag queens, music, raffles, the food trucks are here, it’s a really exciting day,” said Swadba.
For Swadba, it’s all about making sure everyone knows they have a place where they are welcomed and accepted for who they are.
“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s two teenage girls who just walked by us holding hands. And that’s it right there. It’s just for that opportunity for them to feel comfortable, for all of us to be comfortable and to be with each other in such a joyful time,” said Swadba.
Saratoga Pride volunteer Bri Phillips is surrounded by racks of clothes in a quiet corner of the festival.
“Yeah so we’ve had a really busy day today, this is our second year doing our free clothing pop-up shop here with Saratoga Pride. What we do is we gather up a bunch of clothing before the event happens, we kind of go through it and we put different tags on them. When people come they think they’re going to get a price, and we surprise them with a little bit of artwork and they get to walk out with it for free,” said Phillips.
Phillips says her favorite part about the “shop” is picking out her favorite items and matching them with the best attendees. Today’s was a pair of hot pink heels that just found a new owner.
“One of the things that we try to do here is be inclusive and make sure that people know that they can grab whatever clothing they want when they come to Pride. And it’s really fun to see some people find heels, some people find dresses that they’re looking for. And then sometimes we just have college students that are coming through and need some new clothes to go out in too. So, it’s definitely a lot of fun,” said Phillips.
It’s Francis Kramer’s first time at Saratoga Pride.
“What I like to see is more and more local Pride events are happening, you know? So, we decided to come up here and support our local brothers, sisters, etceteras,” said Kramer.
The Troy native says turning out is vital as the culture progresses to become more accepting.
“I wouldn’t have been caught dead at a thing like this decades ago but now it has become normal, or normal enough, that I think we’re only ever going to be improving and being more helpful, more inclusive, more tolerant, more live and let live-ish about things,” said Kramer.
Drag Queen Starling Silver emceed the afternoon. She’s tired but can’t wait to come back next year.
“No, it never gets old. Honestly, I itch for it more. I’ll like take a little break and be like, ‘ugh I need to see those smiling faces.’ And just knowing that they’re leaving their day with a smile on their face, whether it’s from me or a drag sister or another drag performer, it’s just beautiful,” said Silver.
Barring any tornadoes or floods, Saratoga Pride Festival is set for June 22nd next year.
