Ithaca Pride Week coming to downtown

With a dance party from 7 to 10 p.m. June 8 at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Ithaca Commons and Pride in the Park the next day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Dewitt Park, including a vendor fair and performers on stage on the 300 block of Cayuga Street downtown, Ithaca Pride Week is set for its boldest showing ever this week.

“It’s nice to have that thing of, ‘We’re here, not tucked away in a corner or anything,’ but very public, out having fun,” said Andrew Scheldorf, chair of the Ithaca Pride Alliance (IPA).

The festivities will include Drag Story Hour readings at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Dewitt Park — an extension of the Drag Story Hours hosted by Buffalo Street Books.

“We are thrilled about Pride in the Park,” said Lisa Swayze, manager of Buffalo Street books. “We love events in Dewitt Park. So much is focused in The Commons. I like it when people come see other parts of Ithaca.”

She sees the story hours as a natural reflection of the store’s mission. “We make an extra effort to include traditionally excluded people, and so we go the extra mile because we want to make sure people who have been excluded are front and center in the narrative and feel like they belong. I think that’s the key thing,” Swayze said.

Pride in the Park aims to be an all-ages, family friendly, accessible and safe event for everybody.

“It’s pretty family friendly and also has the nightlife and all those fun things that people associate with Pride, as well,” said Scheldorf, who regularly reads during the bookstore’s Drag Story Hours as their drag persona, Tilia Cordata.

“I would say that one thing I’m super excited about that is different from prior years is that Nancy Bereano from Firebrand Books will be speaking at opening ceremonies,” they said. 

Bereano, born in 1942, founded Firebrand Books in 1984. She ran the influential lesbian feminist press until she retired in 2000. She was instrumental in the effort to secure LGBT anti-discrimination legislation for Tompkins County and the city of Ithaca. Firebrand published Dorthy Allison’s “Trash” in 1988, and the book won two Lambda Literary Awards in the categories of Lesbian Fiction and Small Press. In 1996, she won the Publisher’s Service Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation. She will speak at the opening ceremony June 8 from 6 to 7 p.m.

Scheldorf said he is also looking forward to Pride in the Park.

“This is the first year that it’s really a cohesive, all-day program of events targeted at celebrating all the different parts of the community, as well as the tie-in events for folks more interested in nightlife or comedy performances,” Scheldorf said. “I really think our schedule of events is full and comprehensive, and that’s really exciting.” 

 The Pride Stage will have a lineup of local bands and dance groups and a drag and variety show hosted by Tilia Cordata.

“As well as the performance schedule, we have quite a bit of other offerings,” Scheldorf said. “K House has mobile karaoke, and we’re going to have some drag story hour readings, drag performances and live music happening on the stage, outside of the world of IPA planned events. Our goal is to have a community-driven and community-led robust schedule of events.”

There will be a Comedy on the Commons show, a drag cabaret review from international drag performer Lady Bushra, who was shortlisted for a BBC New Comedy Award. The character of Lady Bushra is played by comedian Amir Dean. The show is a collaborative effort with QGrads at Cornell.

On June 14, The Underground is planning the 1st Annual Ithaca Rainbow Fest with the Community School of Music and Arts at 7 p.m.

As the members of the IPA board anticipated when the organization was officially founded earlier this year, the IPA’s role in Pride Week has been largely organizational.

“It’s nice to see that the events planned are requests from people — not that [the IPA] just showed up and said, ‘We would like this to happen,’ but other groups said, ‘This would be really cool, and we need some help doing it.’ Ithaca has a great queer community that exists already, and groups that exist.”

The IPA helped keep the schedule organized so that different events did not overlap. “We had monthly meetings for different community organizations to attend on Zoom, where they could pitch ideas, and we maintained an internal schedule to see where things fit to avoid as much conflict as possible,” Scheldorf said.

The Cortland Community Pride Festival is July 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the IPA avoided planning its celebrations around the same time in the hopes that their programming will draw people from around the wider region, giving those who already come to Ithaca on a regular basis a heightened reason to pay the city a visit this summer.

To make sure that everyone feels safe, the IPA is contracting with a private security agency to staff the festival events taking place in The Commons and Dewitt Park. The IPA also has team leaders who are certified crowd managers to help ensure events go smoothly. Cayuga Medical will staff a medical tent.

“We will have plenty of folks available if any concerning situation happens,” Scheldorf said.

Financial support from local businesses has been encouraging, Scheldorf added.

“It’s nice to see the response from the business community,” he said. “We have a large amount of sponsors for Pride but also for the organization year round. That was something I hoped for, and I’m excited that there is this support for queer folks in town. Not only are people interested, but businesses are interested in supporting the queer efforts in Tompkins County.”

Buffalo Street Books is one of those local sponsors. “We are very supportive about having an actual Pride organization in our town now that is helping to make this happen,” Swayze said.

One way to support the IPA and Pride Week is to purchase a T-shirt designed by local queer artist Emily Howland. The design, which was chosen as the winner of a contest last spring, features the IPA logo and is available for presale now, with limited availability for purchase during the upcoming event itself.

“You should preorder now to make sure you get them,” Scheldorf said.

The design highlights Taughannock Falls with rock overhangs forming a heart.

“It’s visually pretty stunning,” Scheldorf said. “It’s a great design.” The shirts are available for purchase at https://sunnydaysny.com/collections/ithaca-pride-alliance-shirts to be picked up at Sunny Days in Itahca.