Hampshire Pride parade kickstarts LGBTQ celebrations

For the second time since its launch, Hampshire Pride held its annual parade across downtown Northampton, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community on Saturday. 

Dancers, drag queens, a brass band and more were among nearly 1,800 marchers joining more than 20 floats.

What started as a march in the early 80s, held as the community faced extensive harassment and discrimination, has since become one of the most vibrant and well-attended events in the Pioneer Valley.

At the first liberation Pride marches, some marchers had to cover their faces for fear of losing their jobs. But now thousands of people crowd Bridge and Main streets for the parade.

“It’s been amazing, it’s all coming together – this is what we’ve been working on this whole time,” said Hampshire Pride Director Clay Pearson, who called attention to the nearly 100 groups marching, ranging from the Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County to the Rainbow Gutter Bowling League to local schools and public services. 

That includes the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Among them was social worker Heather Montminy.

“We’re just trying to get more foster parents to sign up and really start fostering – there’s such a shortage, so we come to these events to really get some really great foster parents,” she told WAMC.

Other attractions included stilt walkers in all colors of the rainbow, acrobatics performed by Ascendance Inner World Arts, and elected officials like Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and Congressman Jim McGovern of the 2nd district.

Plenty of drums and bass were being blasted as well, along with local performers like the Expandable Brass Band playing along the route.

Nearby was a contingent of teens in colorful, full-body animal costumes, also known as the “Western MA Furs.” Among them was Maeve Byrnes.

“The cheering was fantastic and people were really happy to see us, which was really nice,” they said. 

Asked about the connection between their group and the LGBTQ+ community, another marcher, Io Ocsellus, said the groups have a significant overlap.

“The furry community has a very large queer population, so a lot of us are a part of that community – it is awesome to experience pride parades and stuff like that,” Ocsellus said.

“I absolutely feel the same way – a lot of furries fit in under the community, a lot of furries are neurodivergent and pride really embraces that and it’s a such a great environment for us to be in,” Byrnes added.

Ending at Crafts Avenue after about an hour or so of parading, the event carried over into a vendor festival behind Thornes Marketplace.

Along with local artisans and food, various public services and community groups had tables at the event.

One of them, the Ashmere Project, is devoted to providing a residential retreat in the Berkshires for adults with and without disabilities, according to co-founder Maggie Moyers.

“It’s so positive here,” Moyers said. “Just the second the parade ended and everyone walked in, you could just feel the energy and that’s definitely part of our mission at the Ashmere Project.”

In that same space a while later, Hampshire Pride organizers were honored and Mayor Sciarra proclaimed May 4 “Hampshire Pride Day.”

As heard and seen during the parade itself, a number of activists advocating for a Free Palestine and ceasefire in Gaza made themselves known during the mayor’s speech. 

While Saturday’s event marked the second Hampshire Pride to be celebrated in the city, parades and marches in May are a long tradition in Northampton.

Held weeks before Pride month in order to have local college students take part, the event has been going on for decades, and for a time, was put on by the group NoHo Pride until the pandemic halted in-person events.

Attendance numbers for 2024 were still being tabulated Monday, according to the mayor’s office. Last year’s parade attracted at least 15,000 people.