Plainfield Pride's First Fest A Success, Organizer Says: See Photos

PLAINFIELD, IL — After Plainfield Pride's first official event Oct. 16, organizers were "really happy" with how successful it turned out.

More than 600 people — not including vendors, volunteers or organizers — attended Pride at PARC, named after the venue, Plainfield Park District's Prairie Activity and Recreation Center, where it was held, Plainfield Pride Executive Director Jes McIlvain told Patch.

"We were really happy with that," she said. "Tons of people came from the [family-friendly Drag Queen Story Hour] that we had to add a second one because people wanted to see it again."

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McIlvain said she witnessed continued positivity from event-goers who would come up to her and other organizers to thank them for putting on Pride at PARC, something they "never thought they'd see" in Plainfield.

"It was really good. People were really happy," McIlvain said. "People were just genuinely happy to be there, and they were happy to see us there in their town. Most of them had to go to Naperville or Joliet, and people were like, 'Why can't we have that?' Now we can."

As planning begins for next year's event, McIlvain said the organization's number one priority is finding a new location. Part of that process is collaborating with the Plainfield Police Department, who tabled Pride at PARC, she said.

"It was awesome having them there, seeing them interact with people," McIlvain said. "We want to keep that going and make it as easy as possible for them. They really were super, super, super amazing."

Take a look at a collection of photos from the event Oct. 16.