WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Visitors to downtown Wichita witnessed a celebration of Pride on Saturday. The annual Pride parade took to the streets shortly before noon, and there was also a large festival inside Century II.

This year’s theme is YOUnited with Pride. Some of the people celebrating said the events are a great place to meet a supportive community.

“I think it’s important just because we don’t have a lot of this regularly, you know,” Sophia Vest said. “It’s nice to be able to meet up with the community to see everybody, to meet everybody, just to be able to connect, you know, to show that we are not alone and we do matter.”

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Inside Century II, The Wichita Pride Festival featured performances and vendors with booths offering goods and services.

One vendor was Brea Rice, the host of the podcast “Kueen Talk.” She started the show this year in Wichita. It features real stories and experiences from people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“‘Kueen Talk’ was created because we need representation,” Rice said. “I feel like the representation doesn’t get seen often. I grew up in a small town. I didn’t see people that looked like me, Black people, let alone queer Black people, so I felt like I needed to start a platform.”

She is producing a new podcast each week.

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The Pride events moved to Naftzger Park on Saturday night, with Pride in the Park After Dark, which runs until 11 p.m.

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