After a successful launch last year, the second annual Naper Pride Fest returns to Naper Settlement Sept. 10, offering music, food, kids activities and LGBTQ+ supportive vendors as part of a festival that focuses on diversity, family, neighbors and allies in celebration of inclusivity.
“This is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, but Naper Pride is about more than just our community,” said Margie Wolf, one of the founders of Naper Pride and an organizer of the event. “We are literally proud of the town that we live in. It’s Naperville Pride. We love where we live, and we want to celebrate with everybody. So our events are open to everybody and for all ages.”
This year’s festival includes a performance by Grammy-award-winning singer Jody Watley, an artist with 15 top 40 singles in her long career. Best known for her blending of R&B and dance-pop (in addition to her fashion), Watley had several big hits in the late 1980s, including “Looking for a New Love” and “Real Love.”
She’ll be the finale to a day of music on the festival’s main stage when her show kicks off at 9 p.m. Other performers throughout the day include the Cheryl Rodey Band (2:15 p.m.), Beyond the Blonde (3:45 p.m.), Too Much Molly Band (5:30 p.m.), and Brian Justin Crum (7:30 p.m.).
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“There’s some great musical variety throughout the day,” Wolf said. “Too Much Molly was here last year, and we’re happy to have them back. And Brian Justin Crum was a finalist for ‘America’s Got Talent.’ That man has a beautiful voice. I cannot wait to see him on stage. He’s got such a range and a passion for what he does. We’re really happy he’s decided to join us.”
The festival, which takes place at Naper Settlement from noon to 10 p.m., took shape after Wolf and some friends first created Naper Pride about five years ago.
“We were sitting on the couch watching TV and saw a clip of the Chicago Pride Parade,” she said. “And that’s fun. We always go to it. It’s a great event. And we said, why don’t the suburbs do something like this?
“So we said, ‘what the heck, let’s do it,'” she said.
She was helped by the Naperville Park District, which guided her through the permitting process and offered advice. The group eventually reached out to Chicago Special Events, which organizes other pride festivals in the area, and selected them to help with the operations.
“Fortunately for us, the city of Naperville, the city council people, and the people that work in special events are all so friendly and helpful,” she said. “They really guided us through it.”
They launched a Naper Pride Facebook page and soon discovered that they had found an underserved community in the suburbs.
“We realized almost immediately what we needed to be,” Wolf said. “The emails started pouring in about people who needed help. They were lonely and wanted a community. Others couldn’t find a doctor, or had questions about what to do when their kid told them they were bisexual … All these emails, and we realized what we needed to be — a full-service organization to support the community.”
The festival became a way to promote the organization’s overall goals and celebrate the LBGTQ+ community in Naperville. COVID pushed the first event to 2021, but the inaugural year was a success.
“We were very happy to finally have it after the pandemic, and it went very well,” she said. “We learned some things, but I think everyone agreed this was an important event to have in Naperville.”
In addition to the musical entertainment, the festival will have food trucks and other vendors providing meals and drinks. The DuPage County Health Department will be attending along with other service organizations to promote health resources in the area. There will be an arts and crafts section as well as other games and activities for kids to do, along with carnival games and playground equipment.
“In some respects, it’s like any other festival — there’s food and fun and community,” Wolf said. “It’s just people being open and kind to one another.”
Naper Pride Fest
When: noon to 10 p.m. Sept. 10
Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S Webster St., Naperville
Tickets: $10; seniors (over 60) and veterans are $5; kids 11 and under are free
Information: 630-420-6010; naperpride.org
Jeff Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.