After a busy calendar of events this past June, Nevada County wrapped up their Pride celebration with their first ever festival on Sunday, August 6. Held in downtown Nevada City’s Miners Foundry Cultural Center, the event had attracted over 300 people by late afternoon.
“Nevada County Pride has been around for about 40 years. Originally, it was potlucks at private member’s homes, mostly gay men,” commented Nevada Pride chairperson Rick Partridge, “And the communication back then was done by postcard! We’ve come a long way.”
The August event reflected a diverse mix of locals and visitors (who were also in town for the previous Saturday’s “Gay Day at the Yuba River.”) The festival was divided into four “acts,” including a youth talent showcase, stand-up comedians, a drag-queen hosted talent competition, and DJ dance party.
The Foundry is a beautiful California Historical Landmark and festival attendees visited their full bar, as well as roughly a dozen organization and vendor booths. Laura LaPointe and her wife Maddie offered an assortment of beautiful cupcakes from their bake shop The Sweet Spot and local luminaries such as KVMR DJ Lisa “the Kitten” Williford were also on hand to enjoy the day. In the theater section, trans comedian Heather Rogues told jokes about “transvestigators.”
It seemed like a very busy program for a first-time event.
“I think we’re just at a point where there were so many queer people moving here during COVID and continuing to move here from the Bay Area and from other places,” explained Partridge. Nevada County’s population is now over 103,000 and this picturesque Sierra foothills town is now known in part for its vibrant arts scene.
”It’s the right place at the right time,” says Partridge, “And I’m super excited about the possibilities.”
Equipment
Here’s the equipment I brought:
Nevada City outdoors:
- Nikon D750 and D780 bodies (smallest, lightest full-frame sensor Nikon bodies)
- Tamron 24-70 2.8 zoom
Miner’s Foundry:
- Nikon D780
- Nikkor 35mm, 1.8G
- Nikon SB700 flash
- Magmod Magsphere diffuser, with bracket and cord
This article first appeared in Outword Magazine on Aug. 24, 2023. For more information about Nevada County Pride, please see their website.
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All photos are copyright Chris Allan and cannot be used without my written permission. Please contact me for usage rights. Thank you for reading my blog post “Nevada County Goes All Out in its Inaugural Pride Festival. ” To learn more about me and my work, please see my About page.