Inaugural Naper Pride Fest 2021

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The inaugural Naper Pride Fest kicked off today at Naper Settlement.

According to Naper Pride Fest organizer Ken Mejia-Beal, “What we are doing here today is we are raising funds and awareness for issues within the LGBTQ community here in Naperville—housing discrepancies, taking care of our senior citizens and just providing awareness to the community as a whole.”

About the Event

The event featured nonprofit organizations like 360 Youth Services, businesses, food, live music and family fun. “When you look around, you see a lot of folks with their kids and that is something you don’t really see a lot at LGBTQ events. That is what our big push was.”

Moving Forward

The inaugural Naper Pride Fest goes on until 10 p.m. today. It will be back from noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The group plans to make the fest an annual event.

About Naper Pride

Naper Pride was started in 2019, providing resources for both the general public and local LGBTQ community members. The group was inspired by other local groups like Aurora Pride. But other factors like Naperville’s low ranking on the Human Rights Campaign, a LGBTQ advocacy group, also helped spur the formation of the group. You can check out Naper Pride’s website or their Facebook page for more details about their events or how to get involved.

Naperville News 17’s Megann Horstead reports.

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