{"id":27297,"date":"2025-06-29T18:06:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T22:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=27297"},"modified":"2025-06-29T18:06:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T22:06:05","slug":"no-problems-huge-turnout-at-pride-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/29\/no-problems-huge-turnout-at-pride-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"No problems, huge turnout at Pride Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decatur’s first Pride Festival, which has stirred considerable comment and anguish since it was announced several weeks ago, drew a huge crowd to the Madison St. Plaza Saturday and had no major problems or disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, not all all, not one bit,\u201d replied Decatur Deputy Police Chief Chris Brite on Sunday when asked if there had been any during the festival. \u201cOh, yeah, I did have to ask one guy to leave,\u201d he chuckled. \u201cHe was drunk (not in the festival area); his wife came and got him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A large crowd gathered in Decatur to celebrate the city’s first Pride Festival Saturday. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six people \u2013 four men and two women \u2013 carrying signs onto the plaza \u2013 were told they needed to take their signs to the protest area and they did without any hassle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brite, in the absence of Chief Kevin Gerber, who was out of town, oversaw a rather heavy police presence. In addition to officers milling about, a police drone was overhead at times and one or two officers were atop the Adams County Courthouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A member of the Decatur Police Department is shown perched atop the Adams County courthouse overlooking the proceedings during Saturday’s Pride Fest in downtown Decatur. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to be prepared,\u201d the deputy chief said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the Indiana State Police sent two officers to the area \u201cjust in case they would be needed,\u201d and that a couple of sheriff’s officers who were present \u201cwere just guys on regular duty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brite also pointed out that the extra security was paid for by the Decatur Pride organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those funds came from a donation by the owners of Two Brothers Bar & Restaurant in Decatur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although half of a block of Madison St. west of Second St., and the Adams County Courthouse lawn were designated by police as an area for protesters, the areas were empty, save, mainly, for two men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Two men took advantage of the designated protest area for the Pride Fest Saturday, carrying signs and shouting. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One brought a portable PA system to project his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Biggest crowd I’ve ever seen.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TURNOUT: It was estimated that approximately 1,000 people turned out for the event, despite temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s and a wealth of sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers had originally said a couple of hundred people were expected to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Approximately 1000 people spent their evening in downtown Decatur for the Decatur Pride Festival. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey (organizers) said there were probably a thousand people, adults and kids, and I would say that was probably pretty close.\u201d Brite noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was pretty steady all day. That was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen there (on the plaza).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was only one entrance\/exit, with ID’s checked on everyone who entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tents popped up all the way around Madison Street as part of the Pride Fest. (Photo by Bob Shraluka)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cindy’s food truck and Two Brothers food was available for purchase, and numerous vendors were set up on both sides and the west end of the plaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drag show lasted an hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com Decatur’s first Pride Festival, which has stirred considerable comment and anguish since it was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,21],"class_list":["post-27297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Pride-crowd-1.jpg?fit=725%2C325&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27303,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27297\/revisions\/27303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}