Western Wisconsin town to host pride festival in June
STOCKHOLM, Wis. (WEAU) - A small Pepin County village will be celebrating its LGBTQ community next month.
The inaugural Lake Pepin Pride is coming to the Village of Stockholm June 11-13.
“Simply, it’s a celebration. It’s a celebration of everybody,” said Alan Nugent, the owner of a Stockholm Pie and General store.
He’s one of Stockholm’s 66 residents.
Nugent, who is gay, said he moved to Stockholm in 2004 for its beauty and accepting community.
“We’re here because it is a safe place,” he said. “This place is magical. It’s not your normal place. It’s something out of a movie. It’s out of a book. It’s not your normal, run of the mill place in any way, shape or form.”
That magic is why Jennifer Lindahl decided to organize the main event.
“The organization itself is going to be having a celebration here in the park, at Stockholm Village Park, and that is going to be on Saturday June 12 from 10a.m. 1p.m. We’ll have some supportive nonprofit vendors and some other vendors coming,” she said.
In addition to Saturday’s main event, several other community organizations and businesses, like Humble Moon Folkstead & Saloon, are hosting complementary events throughout the weekend.
Some of these events include an art reception, drag performances and live music.
“I think it’s great because everybody needs voice and everybody needs to be seen and we all stick together and we don’t judge anybody by who they are or what they do or what they like or what they love,” said Humble Moon Folkstead & Saloon owner Dan Prokosh.
“The goal is just to promote how inclusive Stockholm is,” Lindahl said. “We’re such a small community and I think rural communities get such a bad rap. They get a bad rap for being homophobic, racist and that is not Stockholm and we are standing up against that.”
She said some from nearby communities have voiced objections to the event but people in Stockholm are supportive.
Lindahl said she estimates about a quarter of Stockholm’s 66 residents are members of the LGBTQ community.
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