Dixon’s first Pride Festival back on the table for 2022

DIXON – Dixon’s first Pride Festival could be happening this summer after the organizer recently sent a revised event proposal to the city.

Pride parades and festivals are events celebrating the self-acceptance, achievements and legal rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary and queer.

Last year, Andrew Glasscock, Pride Festival director in the Quad Cities who’s been with the organization for 15 years, wanted to bring a festival to Dixon and applied for a permit to do so April 1 for an event that would take place June 26.

He then pulled his proposal in early May after concerns the council hadn’t approved the permit and that there wouldn’t be enough time to book entertainment and solidify other arrangements.

Glasscock returned to the council Tuesday to speak about a new proposal for a Dixon Pride Festival to be on June 18, revising parts of the event following recommendations from city officials.

The original event would have started earlier in the afternoon with family activities, but there were concerns about closing streets and traffic downtown.

The festival would begin at 4 p.m. with a DJ and a light drag show, followed by a performance from Illinois band Invisible Cartoons from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and performances from professional drag queens the Fab Five from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the festival wrapping up by 11 p.m.

“It will get the party absolutely on a scale of one to 10, it’s going to put it at a 10 right out of the gate,” he said.

There was also concern about security and overtime for Dixon police officers. Glasscock said he could hire private security from the Quad Cities area, but he would rather use local resources and would work things out with the police department.

City Manager Danny Langloss said the city doesn’t have staff for bigger festival events, and Glasscock would need to work with the Dixon Chamber of Commerce and Main Street.

The application looks good, and it could be voted on by the council during the next couple of meetings, he said.