Residents near and afar descended into downtown Taylor this past Saturday for Taylor’s relatively new summer outdoor festival.
On June 25, the Taylor PRIDE Music & Arts Festival had its second inperson and third overall annual event on Second Street. Vendors, booths and live music were outside in 100-degree weather but also inside adjacent venues Black Sparrow Music Parlor, Texas Beer Company and Xchange Nightlife.
“The theme for this year’s event is ‘Small Town, Big PRIDE,’” said Mayor Brandt Rydell, who presented opening remarks. “Not everybody sees eye to eye on everything, but we all get along and we respect one another. We’re a place where not only do we know our neighbor, we care about our neighbor and dare I say we love our neighbor.”
Other speakers include city, county and state leaders. Live musical performers included Venus Loves Mars, The Revengers, Brooke Ashley Eden, Kelly McRae, Spooky Juke, Jay Satallite, Carbon Love, Midnight Butterfly, Crystal Skulls, Worm Suicide, Marla Strange and Vestite.
The event grew in space and included activities further west on Second Street and for half of a block of Talbot Street north and south of Second Street. Discussion panels, an outdoor stage, a Kids Zone and increased food vendors were added.
In addition to people in support of the festival, others sang songs, read Bible verses and displayed signs of concern for the event and reasons behind it. The Taylor Area Ministerial Alliance, a network of some local churches and ministries, announced June 15 that they had accepted an invitation from Taylor PRIDE co-founder Denise Rodgers to attend the event as they did last year. Members of the group were stationed on the south side of Second Street but also walked throughout the festival.
The Taylor Police Department provided security. A local chapter of the Parasol Patrol, an organization of people who use umbrellas to shield perceived negative impacts from protestors at events, was also present.
