After four years without a festival, Ames Pride held a pride celebration on the corner of Fifth Street and Duff Avenue on Saturday Sept. 30. The main sponsors for the festival were the Ames Public Library, Collegiate United Methodist Church and Discover Ames. Pridefest was full of games, vendors, free tie-dye and performances.
Around the event, booths were advertising “free mom hugs” or “free parent hugs.” Glenda Stormes-Bice was the coordinator for the “free parent hugs” booth.
“It’s always been interesting to me that there’s always a free mom hugs booth,” Stormes-Bice said. “The free mom hugs people are great—and certainly dads are welcome to come and hug—but it was always curious to me that there was never a dad booth and what that might look like.”
Stormes-Bice said she has taken pride in her booth, as it even allowed a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to reconnect with a family member who was not originally in support. At the booth, fathers are encouraged to ask permission to hug festival-goers and give them a dad joke. If someone does not want a hug, the parents are urged to offer them a high five or a fist bump instead.
Ames Pridefest also featured spoken word poetry, drag shows, singing and more, with performances held in the center of Main Street. Audience members were encouraged to sing and dance along, chat with the performers, and tip when they felt compelled to.
Krystal Nguyen attended the festival and said she enjoyed her time dying a tee shirt at the tie-dye booth.
“This is just really nice, like seeing people being represented and really being included,” Nguyen said.
Vendors were placed along the side of the roads with many freebies to give away. There were booths focusing on sexual health, religion, food, books and more. By appearance, the most popular booth was free tie-dye. This booth was led and sponsored by RE/MAX Real Estate, and attendees were allowed to choose between a scrunchie, bandana, or tee shirt to be their tie-dye canvas.
“There were a bunch of different tents set up, and it was actually a lot more fun than I was expecting,” Calyn Frost, a senior at Iowa State who also attended the event, said . “I mean, there were a lot of people around. Everyone was super welcoming and positive, and it was actually really fun.”
Local businesses in the downtown Ames area also hosted an “after pride” event following the afternoon’s celebrations. For more information regarding the event, or any future events related to this one, head to the Ames Pride website.
