Pride Youngstown is coming back full force for 2024.

The city hosted its first Pride event 15 years ago. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the event in 2020 and organizers used the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre in 2021, which Daphne Carr said, “Was great in terms of safety and social distancing, but it’s difficult to make it feel crowded unless you have 5,000 people there.”

There was no official Pride event last year, but Penguin City Brewing Company hosted a de facto Pride event last June.

Carr, who is one of the organizers of Saturday’s Pride festival along with Chloe Jackson and Leandrah Hunt, said they set out to create an event that reflects the diversity of the community as a whole as well as the LGBTQIA+ community in the Mahoning Valley.

The festival will span both blocks of Phelps Street downtown and parts of Commerce Street.

“We want to support downtown businesses,” Carr said. “We understand post-COVID and with ongoing construction and the most recent tragedy that unfolded, they’re really hurting. They are allies and we wanted to stay downtown to support them and have the community support them.”

While the event will have several food trucks on site, downtown bars and restaurants such as The Federal, Draught House and Gringos will have drink and/or food specials, and some of the acts who will be on one of the two Pride fest stages also will be performing at The Federal.

This year’s event serves multiple purposes.

“It’s a festival,” Carr said. “We’re all coming together to have fun and celebrate our lives and break bread with one another. And we’re also, they say the first Pride was a riot, and we say it’s a continual affirmation of our right to exist, to be in the public space as the people we are. It’s a continuation of the civil rights struggle into the 21st century.

“Youngstown itself has been incredibly positive, and the city government has been super affirming and wonderful with us as we work on the festival. We want to make it possible for everyone to come and feel included, for people who are allies to get to know the community and be involved and to really listen to the joy and struggle that folks are having. Especially young people in our community are really hurting because of all these bills going through the statehouse and all the bad faith rhetoric we hear on the internet. It really hurts them the most because they are in the process of forging their identities and making the choices that are going to affect the rest of their lives.”

Organizers are hoping this year’s event attracts about 1,000 people.

In addition to a full slate of activities from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, a Pride-A-Go-Go preparty is planned Friday at Westside Bowl in Youngstown, and Penguin City Brewing Company will host an after party starting at 9 p.m. Saturday.

“Those are two of our strongest LGBTQIA+ supporting businesses in the Valley,” Carr said. “We’re extremely thankful for them … Aspasia (Lyras Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City) and her team are very excited to build on that relationship in the community and to be doing the afterparty. I can’t wait to get to that finish line because the lineup is absolutely star-studded and huge.

“Westside Bowl is one of the most affirming places in the community. Nate (Offerdahl, co-owner) and his crew meet people where they’re at every day and really support LGBTQ organizations by offering them space for fundraisers and community events, meetings. We spend a lot of time at Westside Bowl just being everyday people and our true selves, and it was a natural fit for us to have the event there.”

If you go …

WHAT: Pride Youngstown 2024

WHEN: noon to 9 p.m. Saturday,

WHERE: Phelps and Commerce streets, Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, go to www.prideyoungstown.com.

MAIN STAGE ENTERTAINMENT

1 p.m. — Eff and Odd’s Pride Kick Off

2 p.m. — Crash the Great

3 p.m. — Ms. Waskin and the Radio

4 p.m. — Kings N Things Fling with Poundcake & LaFoole

5 p.m. — Music with Adele Pickle, Tay’lerrae Acoustix and Latrice Joy J-Love

6 p.m. — Miss Dreadful

7 p.m — Dinner Theater Rejects

8 p.m — Pride Youngstown Drag Showcase

VALLEY VOICES STAGE

1 p.m. — Rust Belt Theater Company

1:30 p.m. — Cleveland Transgender Choir

2 p.m — Comedian Asher O’Briant

2:30 p.m — Infini-Tribe

3 p.m — Millennial Theatre Company

3:30 p.m. — Jamie Marich

4 p.m. — Jacob Latessa and Autumn Simones

5 p.m. — Queer poetry reading

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