Flourish Point Inc. in Rexburg will be hosting a Pride event at porter park on Saturday, June 11th. The event is titled “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and will be a Luau, a style of party practiced by those in Hawaii and Greater Polynesia. The theme of this year’s event is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in reference to the song from Wizard of Oz. Specifically, the cover version was performed by Hawaiian musical artist IZ (Israel Kamakawiwoʻole). The cover combined “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with another popular song “What a Wonderful World.”
“A lot of the lyrics in both of those songs have this message of hope and a happy present which is something we want to focus on. There’s a lot of like an air of doom and gloom in the LGBTQ+ community… we want to provide this message that hope, love, and happiness is available now,” said Brooks McFadden the marketing director of Flourish Point Inc.

The party will feature local musicians and entertainers like fire-knife dancers, as well as businesses and other supporting organizations. 

“We have a few different local performers, Hazel Paul she is from Rexburg... We will have Blame The Deacon, and Bradford Huntsmen. So most of it is going to be local groups,” said McFadden 

The event may be an event to celebrate LGBTQ+ members of the community and focus on the struggles and issues faced by LGBTQ+ people, but the event is for everybody, as a celebration of simply being yourself. 

“Last year our theme was ‘celebrate unity’ and we wanted to keep it pretty simple and let people in Rexburg know that this is a non-threatening event. It is one to just come together and celebrate not just the unity but the fact that we can be together and that we can learn from each other's different experiences,” said McFadden. 

You can sign up for the event or learn more about it here.