In celebration of June being Pride Month, LGBT people in Athens will be able to be out and proud this weekend at the first-ever Athens Pride Fest.

For the past two years, Ohio University’s LGBT Center has hosted annual picnics to celebrate Pride Month, but this year, the center is partnering with the Southeastern Ohio LGBT Coalition and the Southeast Ohio LGBTQ+ Center to host several events which will span over the weekend.

“Folks have fun at the picnic but have shared wanting to do something more,” delfin bautista, the director of OU’s LGBT Center, said. “To celebrate not only pride in being LGBT, but pride in being LGBT in southeast Ohio, in rural parts of the state and in Appalachia. It’s an opportunity to celebrate pride in every sense of the word, geographically.”