Loveland Pride Celebration to be held at Backyard Tap Saturday – Loveland Reporter-Herald

Loveland residents hoping to celebrate Pride Month can make their way downtown Saturday for an afternoon celebration as a community, an event that was previewed Thursday afternoon when a small group gathered on the south side of Lake Loveland to rally.

The third Loveland Pride Celebration, put on by the Rainbow Collective Loveland, will be held at Backyard Tap for several hours Saturday, offering music, food, activities and community.

“We have to keep showing up for each other,” said Loveland resident Madison Polansky, who came out to the gathering Thursday afternoon, waving a large progress Pride flag.

Kat McManus, a member of the collective that started just a few months ago, said in creating the Pride event she wanted to reach out to the community and offer a safe space to come and celebrate during Pride Month.

The event on Saturday, she said, will feature special tacos from Angry Hippie Tacos, community painting activities, coloring pages for local children who come and more. She also said the event is expected to offer guest speakers, including Mayor Jacki Marsh and council member Andrea Samson as well as other community members and youth speakers.

To ring in the coming celebration, the collective also organized the small gathering at the heart on the south end of Lake Loveland, with the group standing along Eisenhower Boulevard waving Pride flags, holding signs and cheering as people drove by.

Priscilla Martinez said she brought her daughter out to show support during the small gathering as allies, saying she is trying to raise her children to love everybody.

“I’m glad our town is doing this,” she said.

Polansky, who was born and raised in Loveland, said she is happy to see Pride events in her hometown, adding when she grew up they simply didn’t happen. She added it is important to continue to spread the message that love is love.

McManus said having a Pride event is important not only for the community at large, but particularly for the youth in Loveland to have a safe space to be themselves.

“They are looking for opportunities to create a community and feel safe in safe spaces,” she said.

She also said she felt the need to create more safe spaces for the community, hoping to pave the way for the future to have more opportunities for residents to come together and celebrate.

“Equality and making this place better for everyone is my … goal (for) life,” she said.

The Loveland Pride Celebration will start at Foote Lagoon where participants will then walk together to Backyard Tap, 323 N. Railroad Ave., for the remainder of the event from 1 to 3 p.m. More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page, bit.ly/43OmnwJ.