LAKELAND, FL (WFTS) — A free festival in Lakeland will celebrate the LGBTQ community, history, and arts, while highlighting the continued impact of HIV and AIDS.
The second annual Rainbow Roots Festival will be held Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at Lake Mirror Auditorium. The family-friendly event will feature queer-owned businesses, performers and community organizations.
Organizers say the festival is about creating a welcoming space while remembering the people and stories that helped shape the LGBTQ community.
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For Micah Harrison, that kind of space is especially meaningful. He is a regular at the the Rose Dynasty Center. Polk County’s first LGBTQ-focused center.
“For me and so many other queer people in Polk County to have not just an affirming space to come and hang out but an affirming space where we can come and like have our medical needs and our mental health needs met is astronomically better than anything we had here before,” Harrison said.
Rose Dynasty Center offers primary care, mental health counseling, and free HIV and STD testing, treatment and prevention through Pineapple Healthcare.
Founder Jason DeShazo said access to HIV services is an important part of the center’s mission.
“Polk County itself is in the top two and three percentile of the United States for HIV and AIDS and it is imperative that we get the services out to people so that no-cost testing, you get to know your status and then we’re able to take care of you and treat you,” DeShazo said.
The Rainbow Roots Festival will also focus on the history of HIV and AIDS.
Panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which honors people who died from HIV and AIDS, will be on display. Organizers say it is the first time in 20 years that pieces of the quilt will be displayed in Polk County.
“We’re going to do a remembrance ceremony and then we’re going to be bringing it to the center and it’ll be actually on display here at the Rose Dynasty Center,” DeShazo said.
The festival drew more than 900 people last year, organizers said.
DeShazo said the event is intended to give people an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ community, connect with others and learn about its history.
“Our roots run deep. We have been here for a long time and we’re not going anywhere,” DeShazo said. “It’s just a day of celebrating and embracing the artist and performing arts and then hearing history stories.”
Rainbow Roots Festival
When: Sunday, Oct. 4, noon to 5 p.m.
Where: Lake Mirror Auditorium in Lakeland
Cost: Free
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