Pride returning to Sandusky

SANDUSKY — Celebrate Pride Month in Sandusky for the fifth-annual Sandusky Pride. The free community event celebrates love, life, equality and acceptance, focusing on bringing the community together for a better tomorrow for all types of families, people and youth. Spanning three days in downtown Sandusky, June 24-26, Sandusky Pride will see the return of the Pride Parade. Everyone, of all ages, is welcome. The main stage, at Schade-Mylander Plaza, will feature entertainment acts each day. Vendors, meanwhile, will line Shoreline Drive. • From 2 p.m. to midnight on Friday, June 24, the Battle Royale Drag Competition returns. • The parade will be on Saturday, June 25, and begins at Battery Park. The parade will move through Washington Park and ends at the Mylander Pavilion on Jackson Street Pier. Live bands and performers will be at the main stage from noon until midnight on Saturday. ShaVazz the Weirdo with DJ Chosen will perform, and DJ Sami Jo will bring a downtown block party to the stage. • From noon until 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, there will be a concert series headlined by local and national acts. Ohio's own Diana Chittester, a singer/songwriter will perform along with LGBTQ pioneer Sophie B. Hawkins and Grammy award-winner and seven-time nominee Paula Cole. Co-founders of Sandusky Pride and wives Robin and Nikki Lloyd said the festival is meant to bring people together. "We are so excited to be celebrating five years of Sandusky Pride," Nikki said. "We believe in making our community a 'community of unity.'" Sandusky Pride is dedicated to bringing the community together to celebrate love, Pride, equality and diversity, they said. "It's not just a festival but a movement to bring people together, from businesses and organizations to each of us as individuals, through acceptance of our diversity and ultimate understanding that we are all human," Robin said. "This group of volunteers believes that through awareness, education and celebration we can shine new light on this perspective."