Every year I sit down to write one of these Pagan Pride Day wrap-up posts, and every year it’s hard to even know how to begin.

The stats first: despite a rainy forecast, the Frederick Pagan Pride Day drew slightly over 400 people and raised 351 pounds of food for the Frederick Food Bank, 314 pounds of donations for the Animal Shelter, and $869 (donations plus raffle ticket sales) toward the 2026 Pagan Pride Day. Our numbers were a little low this year due to the weather (and potentially some of the recent political rhetoric and related concerns about gathering in large crowds), but it was still an absolutely wonderful day.

Although Pagan Pride Days writ large were developed as outreach events, my personal take is that they do two important things. One is, of course, outreach. It’s as vital now as it was in the 90’s when this all began. But Pagan Pride Days also serve to bring Pagans from different paths together for a day of sharing – seeing each other, learning about our various traditions, forging connections, helping each other out, and celebrating as one large community. Right now, that second part is vital. It’s so easy to think of the Pagan community as just one’s own local community. To forget that we have friends and allies who share many of our values and perspectives. We can get stuck thinking that we’re going it alone or are forging ahead with just a few like-minded souls. But yesterday, even with a light rain in the middle of the day, there were 400 of us. Sometimes you really do need to see it to believe it.

That’s what I’m sitting with as I write this. The amazing feeling of having been present with my broader community. The joy of seeing people from different Pagan groups throughout the greater DE/MD/VA/PA/WV region joining in the fun (and in some cases the work) of a festival. That although the rhetoric around us is awful, there’s this quiet truth as well: we are NOT alone. We are many. And we are strong.

The 2025 Frederick Pagan Pride Day was a lived, shared reminder that there is hope. There is resilience. There are allies.

Although I serve as the organizational leader of the festival, I do not work alone. Frederick Pagan Pride Day really does take a village to put on. Our all-volunteer corps is around 30 people whose tasks range from planning the event for the months leading up to it to high-intensity shifts setting up, running registration, filling water stations, emptying trash cans, checking bathrooms, answering questions, treating (blessedly few) injuries, checking on vendors, running the sound system, cleaning up at the end of the night and so much more. Special gratitude to my co-lead, Robyn King, for all her hard work coordinating our volunteer corps. It’s a massive body of work and a ton of communications, and Robyn knocked it out of the park.

Deep gratitude to the Presenters, Ritual Leaders, and Entertainment! A festival is nothing without content and this year offered a great mix of traditions, information, encouragement, music, and connection. It takes a lot of work to prep an hour-long workshop, provide entertainment, or offer an opportunity for spiritual connection and devotion for a group of mostly unknown people. THANK YOU.  Thank you so much for sharing your spirituality, expertise, guidance, talent, and leadership with us.

Deep gratitude, as well, to our Vendors and Booth sponsors. We know that part of why Frederick Pagan Pride Day is well attended is the shopping! Every year, we strive to offer a dynamic mix of artisans, purveyors of goods, and information booths to our attendees. Our Vendors and Booth Sponsors travel to us, in many cases, from several states away. We are so grateful to all of you for sharing your work with us.

And, last but not least, a huge and hearty THANK YOU to everyone who did some weather witching on our behalf. Despite the forecast calling for quite a bit of rain, we ended up with only a light misting rain in the middle of the day that lasted for maybe half an hour. We were all able to pack up in dry weather (SO important) and get loaded out easily. The rain finally began just as the last of the volunteers were driving away. Deep gratitude to everyone who helped, humans and spirits alike. It’s always cool to see magic in action.

The autumnal equinox is widely celebrated as Pagan Thanksgiving in our larger culture, and this Pagan Pride Day reminds me why the timing is so appropriate.

We give thanks! We give thanks! We give thanks!

Next year will be our tenth festival. I can’t wait to start planning it.

~ Irene Glasse, lead Frederick Pagan Pride Day coordinator