Parade: Saturday, September 21, 2024 - 1pm
The 2024 CU Pride Parade will step off from downtown Urbana on Saturday, September 21st at 1pm.
THE PARADE ROUTE HAS CHANGED!
Each year we take staff and volunteer experiences, community feedback, and ideas from experts in event production, and use that to determine how we can keep the event a positive and enjoyable one for all involved. With this in mind, we're trying a new route this year and we hope it's a smashing success! If you've participated before, please check the new map as it's VERY different!
Information for Parade Marching Groups and Vehicles:
This year's staging location will be in the parking lots on E Illinois btwn Broadway and Vine. Specific information and instructions have been sent out to all parade float/vehicle and marching groups. If you believe you are registered to be in the parade and have not been contacted, please email [email protected].
Please make sure to represent Pride in your decorations, attire, signage, etc.
Each parade entry should be colorful, with the recommendation of representing the LGBTQ+ Rainbow colors.
ABSOLUTELY NO CONFETTI OR GLITTER WILL BE ALLOWED PER CITY REGULATIONS!
But we do encourage you to bring and throw candy!
BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR - PARADE ENTRY JUDGING AND AWARDS!
So be prepared to show off your best selves when you get there!
Awards will include: Best Float/Vehicle, Best Marching Group, Overall Best in Show, and Judges Choice!
Winners will be announced from the Fair Main Stage after the parade ends.
This year's staging location will be in the parking lots on E Illinois btwn Broadway and Vine. Specific information and instructions have been sent out to all parade float/vehicle and marching groups. If you believe you are registered to be in the parade and have not been contacted, please email [email protected].
Please make sure to represent Pride in your decorations, attire, signage, etc.
Each parade entry should be colorful, with the recommendation of representing the LGBTQ+ Rainbow colors.
ABSOLUTELY NO CONFETTI OR GLITTER WILL BE ALLOWED PER CITY REGULATIONS!
But we do encourage you to bring and throw candy!
BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR - PARADE ENTRY JUDGING AND AWARDS!
So be prepared to show off your best selves when you get there!
Awards will include: Best Float/Vehicle, Best Marching Group, Overall Best in Show, and Judges Choice!
Winners will be announced from the Fair Main Stage after the parade ends.
Parade MCs: Diane Ducey and Lucy Stoole
Diane Ducey is our favorite resident parade announcer and you'll see and hear her all over, like at the annual Parade of Lights and more! She's also all over the radio through Stevie Jay Broadcasting and Q96.1.
Lucy Stoole is best known for being one of the leading drag performers in Chicago. But on top of that, she was named one of OUT Magazine's Hot 100 in 2020 for her Black Lives Matter activism work. According to OUT, she "ignited Chicago's Gayborhood reckoning"!
Lucy Stoole is best known for being one of the leading drag performers in Chicago. But on top of that, she was named one of OUT Magazine's Hot 100 in 2020 for her Black Lives Matter activism work. According to OUT, she "ignited Chicago's Gayborhood reckoning"!
Parade Judges: Latrelle Bright, Sara Cherne, Xander Hazel, and Marc-Anthony Macon
Latrelle Bright is a theatre maker, teacher and arts advocate. She directs plays and musicals for Illinois Theatre and the Urbana-Champaign community and the focus of her work as an individual artist centers around the environment - water in particular. Her guilty pleasure is the video game, Cities Skylines.
Sara Cherne is your queer auntie who always brings the shade and the delicious side-eye. She is currently studying Human Services and is a staunch advocate for sexual health education. As a former theater minor, she brings her love of the arts to her life by creating intricate Halloween costumes for herself and members of her polycule all times of year - why wait until October?! She's participated in five of the last seven Pridefest parades by helping to make floats and by marching. (She was part of the cheering masses for the other two.) She loves bats, clowns, the White Sox, and all things Queer!
Meet Xander Hazel—a proud 10-year resident of CU! By day, Xander is a communications specialist at the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, where he blends science and storytelling. He is also a dedicated member of the Urbana Arts & Culture Commission and a volunteer on Uniting Pride's Fundraising & Outreach Committee, where he is committed to celebrating the diversity of our community!
A native of rural Ohio, Marc-Anthony Macon earned a Rhetoric/Theatrical writing degree from UIUC, and studied Musical Theatre at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Macon is a prolific author, has worked for a number of media outlets and companies, including Frontiers Magazine, P[r]etty Queer, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon & Teen Nick, The-N, Noggin, and Baby First TV, and his art work has been exhibited domestically and abroad in such venues as Café Brut (2016), Art Museum Versi (Selling Fast, 2017 & Who Is the Outsider, 2020-2021), and Art Space Brut (Danger and Humor, 2018). An outspoken advocate for outsiders, misfits, the underserved and marginalized, Macon endeavors to celebrate and empower what makes each of us unique.
Sara Cherne is your queer auntie who always brings the shade and the delicious side-eye. She is currently studying Human Services and is a staunch advocate for sexual health education. As a former theater minor, she brings her love of the arts to her life by creating intricate Halloween costumes for herself and members of her polycule all times of year - why wait until October?! She's participated in five of the last seven Pridefest parades by helping to make floats and by marching. (She was part of the cheering masses for the other two.) She loves bats, clowns, the White Sox, and all things Queer!
Meet Xander Hazel—a proud 10-year resident of CU! By day, Xander is a communications specialist at the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, where he blends science and storytelling. He is also a dedicated member of the Urbana Arts & Culture Commission and a volunteer on Uniting Pride's Fundraising & Outreach Committee, where he is committed to celebrating the diversity of our community!
A native of rural Ohio, Marc-Anthony Macon earned a Rhetoric/Theatrical writing degree from UIUC, and studied Musical Theatre at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Macon is a prolific author, has worked for a number of media outlets and companies, including Frontiers Magazine, P[r]etty Queer, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon & Teen Nick, The-N, Noggin, and Baby First TV, and his art work has been exhibited domestically and abroad in such venues as Café Brut (2016), Art Museum Versi (Selling Fast, 2017 & Who Is the Outsider, 2020-2021), and Art Space Brut (Danger and Humor, 2018). An outspoken advocate for outsiders, misfits, the underserved and marginalized, Macon endeavors to celebrate and empower what makes each of us unique.
Pride Fest Fair: Saturday, September 21, 2024 - 1-5 PM
We're back in downtown Urbana at the intersection of S Race St and W Main St for our CU Pride Fest Fair! Each year gets bigger and better than before so come on down and check us out!
Plan for local businesses and artists to be selling their wares, for community groups to be giving information about their resources and activities, for there to be art and crafts and games to participate in, and for yummy food from brick and mortar establishments located in the Fair area and from trucks and pop up vendors coming just for this event.
We'll also have 2 stages of entertainment this year!
We're grateful to have One Community Together back again this year for our main stage entertainment. Performers will include: Hot Club of Urbana, Bow-dacious String Band & C4A Kids Rock, Chris Chism, Yvie Oddly, Lucy Stoole, and Sixth Street Brass Band!
Our 2nd Stage line up: Parade MCs Diane Ducey of Q96.1 and Lucy Stoole, Jake Fava & Julian Silver, Amasong, Drag Story Time, and Papashoy!
Detailed information about Fair assignments, check in, and operations have been sent to all participants. If you believe you have a booth and have not been contacted, please email [email protected].