MC Dominique Lee (left), with Kim Knowland, president of Moorestown Pride, and co-founders Danielle Zukowski and Kimmie Smith at the Oct. 18 Pride Festival, Moorestown’s first.
Moorestown’s first annual Pride Festival on Oct. 18 set the tone for a night of love and celebration at Wesley Bishop Park.
“One of the important things about our organization is that we pride ourselves on sending a clear message of inclusion and belonging in our community,” said Kimmie Smith, vice president and co-founder of festival organizer Moorestown Pride.
The festival included food trucks, a beer garden, a puppy parade, a children’s sensory area, a scavenger hunt and an appearance by animated TV character Bluey. The event had a purpose: helping Moorestown Pride in its mission of providing a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ individuals, families and allies.
“We are aware of the unconscious biases, and we challenge them when we see them,” Smith explained. “We just want to send a super-clear message that we are here for anyone that is an ally, and we are here for anyone that genuinely wants to support people that are different from them. And I think that we did that.”
“The festival turned out exactly the way we wanted,” noted Kim Knowland, president and co-founder of Moorestown Pride. “It was safe, it was inclusive, and it was community-based. That’s the whole point of our organization … Moorestown is a safe town to be in. You can be here and be yourself, you can be who you want and love who you want, and you’re still going to be a productive part of the community.”
Animated TV series character Bluey interacted with residents at the festival, where there were a number of activities geared to kids.
Vendors for the festival included the Center for Family Services, Contact of Burlington County, Better Together Moorestown, Virtua Health, the Mount Laurel YMCA, King’s Road Brewing Company, the Moorestown Library, the Community House of Moorestown and Humpty’s Dumplings.
“Sometimes people don’t understand why there’s a need for a Pride event,” observed Danielle Zukowski, Moorestown Pride treasurer and co-founder. “But when you’re at the event, you can just tell that people are relaxed. They’re happy to be around people who are just like them … And it’s not about sexuality. I think people try to make it that way. It’s just really about having an event where you’re around people who just accept you for who you are…
“And you can really feel it.”
“We had so many different dynamics of families or groups of friends, and it was just easy and relaxed and safe,” Knowland said of the festival. “It was a safe-space event, and that’s what we worked so hard for.”
“I want other queer people in our community to see that they’re not alone, that there are other people that are standing behind them or in front of them, and that we will get through this thing called life together,” Smith remarked.
Next year’s Pride Festival will be held at Moorestown’s Perkins Center for the Arts on 2025’s National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11. To volunteer, visit www.moorestownpride.com or connect with the organization through its Facebook and Instagram pages.
The first National Coming Out Day – organized by Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg of the National Coming Out Day Organization – was observed on Oct. 11 in 1988, the one-year anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, according to the Human Rights Campaign and its foundation.
“What makes Moorestown so great is that we have a unique group of people in this town, and we aren’t here to divide, so our commitment to the community still remains the same,” Smith pointed out. “I think that was our message, that regardless of your sexual orientation, your gender identity, regardless of your race, your political beliefs, as a nonpartisan organization, we are here to make sure that people feel supported and loved and included, and not conditionally.”
