Business “pridefully” preps for festival go-ers

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – Location changes to this year’s upcoming NEA PRIDEFest could cause downtown Jonesboro to be a bit busy this weekend.

In recent years, NEA PRIDEFest took place on Church Street, but this Saturday, vendors, and people celebrating will flood Main Street.

Local Main Street coffee shop The Recovery Room prepared decorations and food supplies for the festival. Cook Ky Norvell said they stockpiled the pastry case because of an expected influx of people.

“We put our Pride flag up,” Norvell said. “We’re one of the first businesses every year to put that up.”

Novell feels optimistic about pedestrian and travel safety in the festival’s new location. She said in previous years, Main St. caught all the traffic because usually, Church St. would be the one to close.

“I think it’ll help out tremendously,” Norvell said. “It’s been really hard for walkers to get back to the actual businesses without having to stop and slow traffic.”

The festival kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 8

For the first time, businesses can view all the pride festivities, including live music, visiting vendors, and drag shows. Norvell said she is excited for her shift because she gets to see the festival for once.

“We will actually get to pop our heads out and take part in the festivities a little bit this time instead of being sad and looking around from the corner,” Norvell said.

Due to PRIDEFest taking place on Saturday, The Recovery Room moved its live music night to Friday, June 7.

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