Why Is Ann Arbor Pride in August? The Answer Might Surprise You
How Entertainment Director Jadein Black helped the fest evolve from a potluck to a ‘Drag Race’-headlined extravaganza
When Jadein Black books headliners for Ann Arbor Pride, she's not just thinking about who will draw the biggest crowds. As both a full-time teacher and the annual festival's entertainment director, Black approaches her programming with educational intentionality.
Black, who has performed drag for 18 years, says she chooses headliners whose lived experiences reflect current issues impacting the community. This year, those problems include a sustained attack on transgender Americans from the highest levels of government and controversial hardline immigration policies that have sent ICE agents into public streets to conduct highly visible arrests.
Black and the Ann Arbor Pride planning team spent months putting together this year's star-studded lineup for the Aug. 2 celebration in downtown Ann Arbor, and the intentionality behind these selections are evident. Headlining are Detox, the "RuPaul's Drag Race" veteran who recently came out as transgender and Lucky Starzzz, who made history as the first queen born in Cuba to compete on the franchise. The festival also features Landon Cider, winner of "The Boulet Brothers' Dragula" and the first drag king to win a televised American drag competition. Miss Trans Michigan Baddie Brooks is also set to appear.
"Pride is all about showing acceptance and helping each other be our own people and being our best selves," Black explains. "Having people that have come to our nation — especially with immigration being such a contentious issue right now — I want to make sure they're represented. Every time I see something happening in the world, I'm like, 'OK, if I have the platform, if I have the time and energy to put into this, I want to make a difference.'"
For Black, drag serves as a vehicle for "community-based educating." "I use my hosting abilities to bring awareness to experiences that people have in my audiences," she says. "Having these experiences where we have conversations about things are very important, especially as we go through this political climate."
But why is Ann Arbor Pride in August when most Pride celebrations happen in June?
The answer reveals three decades of community evolution, weather challenges and the determination of local advocates who transformed a small gathering into one of Southeast Michigan's most vibrant celebrations.
The journey began in 1995 when the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project — now the Jim Toy Community Center — organized a potluck picnic on National Coming Out Day, which is observed every Oct. 11. What started as a modest celebration on the grounds of Community High School grew over the years, but October's unpredictable Michigan weather proved problematic.
"October just could be a really pleasant fall evening or it could be a ‘cold winter is almost here’ evening," recalls Keith Orr, who with his husband Martin Contreras helped shape the celebration for years. The final straw came when freezing rain hit one year's event.
When Aut Bar and Common Language Bookstore owners Orr and Contreras took over organizing duties in 1999, they gradually moved the celebration to late September, eventually expanding it to take over an entire block of Fourth Avenue and raising about $25,000 annually for the community center. The event was rebranded as "Outfest" as it was more marketable than "NCOD."
But scheduling around Ann Arbor's constraints proved difficult. The city wouldn't permit street closures during football game Saturdays, often leaving organizers with just one possible weekend.
"There's a real historical reason for it being in August," Contreras explains. After organizers moved to August for better weather, they chose not to compete with major Pride celebrations in Chicago, Toronto, Ferndale and Detroit that people traveled to attend in June.
The name "Outfest" persisted until organizers struggled to sell national sponsorships because sponsors understood "Pride" but didn't recognize "Outfest." The rebrand to Ann Arbor Pride coincided with moving downtown.
This evolution from grassroots gathering to major celebration reflects broader tensions about Pride's purpose. For the couple, who participated in the 1987 March on Washington, maintaining political relevance remains crucial.
Contreras believes there's still a place for celebration, but worries the political edge has been lost. "There's always a fight and that seems to have taken second seat or got forgotten all together behind the party aspect of it," he explains. "We continually remind the community that the fight is not over. The first Pride celebration was the year after Stonewall and very much a protest."
Orr worries that corporate sponsorship and social media activism have created complacency. "It's easy to get a little complacent if it's like, IBM is with us and Target is with us," he observes. "Corporations are only as involved as they feel it is good for their bottom line."
He also fears younger generations "don't recall the struggle for rights, the struggle for visibility, the struggle for AIDS" and may not realize "how much went before them to get to this point."
While the landscape has undeniably changed from the grassroots activism of earlier decades, Pride's political heart continues to beat — just with different rhythms. Black represents a new generation of organizers who honor Pride's protest origins while adapting to contemporary challenges. She frequently uses the power of representation and storytelling to keep political issues front and center.
Black, not unlike the organizers before her, sees the importance of highlighting current political issues through her programming choices. Detox's recent coming-out moment happened during a Drag PAC event in Chicago, when she changed lyrics to "Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)," a song she performs on with Willam Belli and Vicky Vox, from "I'm a top" to "I'm trans now." Lucky Starzzz, born in Havana and raised in Miami, was eliminated early from "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 17 but represents the immigrant experience.
"Drag kings are not given the time of day as much as drag queens," Black notes about booking Cider, whose out-of-performance name is Kristine Bellaluna. Cider will host an exclusive drag king show on the Necto stage at 4 p.m.
The festival runs from noon to 9 p.m. on the main stage and noon to 6 p.m. on the Necto stage, featuring additional performers including Baddie Brooks, the current Miss Trans Michigan, and longtime Ann Arbor staples like Out Loud Chorus.
Black will also present Drag Queen Story Time, despite political targeting of such events. "People aren't being harsh on Disney stories, but all but one of the princess stories were written by a man," Black notes.
As Ann Arbor Pride marks 30 years of evolution from an October potluck to a blowout August event that brings together tens of thousands of community members, Black's approach honors both celebration and activism. Her programming choices ensure that amid the joy and entertainment, the community remembers why Pride began as protest.
"I stress very heavily in these shows, especially with what we're going through right now, that if you wake up in the morning and you feel like your identity is something else, that is your own business," Black says. "That is nobody else's but yours and you are in control of your own happiness."
Ann Arbor Pride takes place Aug. 2 in downtown Ann Arbor. For more information, visit annarborpride.com.
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