On Friday night July 9th, Heartland Pride presented its 6th Annual Youth Pride at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. Youth Pride is geared towards LGBTQIA youth and their allies under the age of 18. The night was a huge success and included music, dancing, a scholarship & award presentation, and a drag show.
The 2021 Heartland Pride parade and festival was held on Saturday July 10th in Omaha, Nebraska.
Festivities kicked off at 10:30 am in Omaha’s historic Old Market, with the Heartland Pride parade, which included almost 100 business and non-profit organization parade entries. Literally thousands of onlookers lined the streets of the Old Market to watch the parade, and it was broadcast live on KMTV for those that couldn’t attend. The sea of rainbow colors among all different groups of people was truly breathtaking.
A few hours after the parade, the Heartland Pride festival kicked off at the Baxter Arena in midtown. Hundreds of vendors, businesses, and non-profit organizations lined the halls of the arena and welcomed thousands of attendees.
Festival goers were treated to DJ music until 4pm, when the live entertainment started. Headliners for the event included former American Idol contestant and Broadway star, Frenchie Davis, OneUp Duo, from NBC’s The Voice, Nationally-known comedian, Ant, RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars winner and world-famous Cher impersonator, Chad Michaels, 90’s Pop star CeCe Peniston, and chart-topping recording superstar, Dev.
The highlight of the night for me was seeing Chad Michaels. As Cher, there’s no one better. Michaels performed a medley of Cher hits including, “Strong Enough”, and “If I Could Turn Back Time”, and even came back out for a second performance that had the crowd singing and dancing along to various hits from ABBA!
The 2021 Heartland Pride parade and festival was a huge success, and all the staff and volunteers provided smiles, laughs, and support to everyone in attendance. I was able to walk in the parade and help out in the vendor booth for the company I work for, and it was a great feeling to be surrounded by such positivity and acceptance. It was both an honor, and a privilege to partake in such a wonderful event that celebrated such diversity and inclusion!
Entertainment from the 2021 Heartland Pride festival: