KALAMAZOO, MI -- Pride returned to Arcadia Creek Festival Place on Friday, June 6.

The park filled with thousands of attendees celebrating and seeing one another for who they are.

“I didn’t grow up here but every time I come here I feel loved, I feel accepted and I feel celebrated,” Benjamin Violet said.

Violet won last year’s “All-Star” drag pageant and performed again this year.

Along with the pageant, which capped off the night, there were performances from Queer Theater Kalamazoo, Queer Chorus Kalamazoo, Face Off Theater and more.

Pride is hosted by OutFront Kalamazoo and it is the nonprofit’s largest fundraiser each year.

“We are here, we are Queer and we are not going anywhere,” drag queen and Kalamazoo native Monique Madison said to the crowd.

MLive photojournalist Devin Ande

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