Annual Lititz Pride Festival draws thousands to Lititz Springs Park on Saturday

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Dozens of rainbow umbrellas and pride flags lined South Broad Street in Lititz on an overcast morning as thousands of residents and visitors streamed into Lititz Springs Park on Saturday for Lancaster County Chooses Love's annual Pride festival.

What started as a small event in the parking lot of a middle school in 2021 with an attendance of around 300 people has grown into a celebration that covers the length of Lititz Springs Park and is attended by thousands each year.

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Molly Lutte has rainbow colored hair while working at the Bayer stand during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Jewell Colyer, of Free Mom Hugs, has a rainbow colored fan as she waits to give hugs during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Andrew Imhoff, of Ephrata, stands on top of a crate holding a curtain as he and Katherine Eberhart perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Participants are lined up with rainbow colored umbrellas for the Lititz Pride Festival at the entrance by Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Katherine Eberhart, of Ephrata, stands on top of a crate holding a curtain as she and Andrew Imhoff perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025. The trick started with Eberhart in the box, and Imhoff was standing on top of the crate holding the curtain.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Andrew Imhoff, of Ephrata, left, emerges from a crate that was opened by Katherine Eberhart at the perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Sly Heller, of Monton, sports a costume during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Kari Ferrier, of Columbia, throws a football with "Play Catch With a Dad" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Ace Platt, 13, of Schuylkill County, wears a lemon shark costume, made by Platt, during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Children's animal educator Jade Chen shows a peregrine falcon during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

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Erin Wentz, of Middletown, wears a rainbow flag during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Lititz Pride [photos]

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Molly Lutte has rainbow colored hair while working at the Bayer stand during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Jewell Colyer, of Free Mom Hugs, has a rainbow colored fan as she waits to give hugs during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Andrew Imhoff, of Ephrata, stands on top of a crate holding a curtain as he and Katherine Eberhart perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Participants are lined up with rainbow colored umbrellas for the Lititz Pride Festival at the entrance by Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Katherine Eberhart, of Ephrata, stands on top of a crate holding a curtain as she and Andrew Imhoff perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025. The trick started with Eberhart in the box, and Imhoff was standing on top of the crate holding the curtain.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Andrew Imhoff, of Ephrata, left, emerges from a crate that was opened by Katherine Eberhart at the perform a magic trick called "Metamorphosis" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Sly Heller, of Monton, sports a costume during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Kari Ferrier, of Columbia, throws a football with "Play Catch With a Dad" during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Ace Platt, 13, of Schuylkill County, wears a lemon shark costume, made by Platt, during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Children's animal educator Jade Chen shows a peregrine falcon during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Buy Now

Erin Wentz, of Middletown, wears a rainbow flag during Lititz Pride Festival in Lititz Springs Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer

Vendors set up along the walkways selling food and homemade crafts and advertising local resources, while rock music from local performers reverberated from a gazebo, drowning out the handful of sidewalk preachers on the park's periphery.

Event organizers said they expected around 4,000 attendees Saturday, although morning rain showers may have softened those expectations.

"We thought the first event would be a one-off," said Parker Webb, an executive partner with Lancaster County Chooses Love. "But there was a need here, and each year we've seen it grow."

Just as the event has expanded, so has the organization that runs it. Originally founded as Lititz Chooses Love, the nonprofit changed its name in February to Lancaster County Chooses Love to better represent the community it serves.

"We have always served all of Lancaster County; we just wanted to make that clear to the community and our partner organizations," said Laura Sabatini, the nonprofit's executive partner of development and strategic initiatives. "It was a tough decision because the Lititz community and the support they've shown us is the reason we have been able to grow."

Sabatini said the organization's scope has expanded beyond just the annual pride event over the last several years. Lancaster County Chooses Love has held events throughout the county, worked to connect the LGBTQ+ community with local resources and created a low-barrier food pantry that now operates out of their office in Lititz Borough.

Lancaster County Chooses Love has formed partnerships with other local community groups to operate the pantry. Those include the Lititz VFW, whose members regularly volunteer there. The pantry has grown substantially since its creation in November 2022, serving an estimated 2,200 people in May 2025.

The nonprofit has had to make difficult decisions when it comes to community partners and sponsorships.

Sabatini said Lancaster County Chooses Love chose to cut ties with other sponsors in the medical field after they stopped providing gender-affirming care to some of their patients. Other corporate sponsors who supported past pride festivals stopped communicating with the organization for this year's event.

While the organization has been able to hire a small group of full- and part-time staff thanks to donations, its events and programs are reliant on community support and volunteers.

Noah Rawles, of Manheim Township had volunteered for the event as part of Play Catch With a Dad, a group of fathers who offer to throw a football with anyone who lost or never had the support of a father.

"I hope we are here to offer a bit of encouragement and fun, especially for people who might not have had a parent to just play catch with," said Rawles. "It's just something I knew I could do to help."

Faith-based organizations, including Blossom Hill Mennonite Church of Manheim Township, also were present for the Pride festival, giving out crocheted hearts made by the congregation.

"I think a lot of people have been harmed by churches and have a certain connotation when it comes to Mennonite Churches specifically," said Jeremy Zimmerman, a congregation member at Blossom Hill. "I think it's important to show a different side of the church."

Sabatini said support from churches, community groups and volunteers are the reason the festival has been able to grow year after year.

"Each year we have more volunteers and more organizations reach out," Sabatini said. "And each year we are able to do more and welcome more people."

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{{byline}} Dec 31, 1969