S1EA: Salem Pride Block Party 2026, Why You Should Go

Special Podcast! 

The Salem Pride Block party is next week! This is not a drill! All hands to-

A-hem. Today we're joined by Mathew Oldfield(he/him) and Rowan Craig(he/they) the president and vice president of Salem Pride to talk about the Salem Pride Block party and encourage all of you to go! 

Click: https://salemcapitalpride.org/pride-parade-and-block-party/ for more details.  

This episode is proudly sponsored by Capital Pride. 

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Ahoy, gems and jewels. And non-binary ghouls. I'm Talo. I'm Nyx. And you're listening to The Treasures of Queer Salem. Where two of your favorite troublemaking pirates discover the riches of the Queer Sea while aboard the Salamander. Today we're talking to two people. Matthew Oldfield, E. Him, current president of Salem Capital Pride, avid shoe wearer, and longtime volunteer afeccionado. And then we also have Rowan Craig, EV, current vice president, native plant enthusiast, and person wearing glasses. Oh yeah. And you brought a friend, uh Rowan, right? Yes. So what are you both here for? Well, Rowan, I found him as a stowaway. And he was just so nice I tried to hide him. Like I was like, let's stow him away. And then we both got in trouble. So now we're here. Yeah, the captain doesn't really like stowaways. Nah. He, you know, he hasn't been thrown overboard, so he must really like him. Right, right. That's good thing. But we're nice stowaways. Well, you're not the stowaway. You've been Shanghai. Oh, you're right. I'm the victim here. Rowan! How dare you get me stuck in this place? Did you bring a towel? All right. Uh well, we have a couple of conversations that we wanted to get to, but you have a special message for us here today. So uh what we're curious, what's going on? Yeah, so uh primarily we're here because we have uh Salem Capital Pride's Pride Parade and Block Party is coming up on June 13th here in Salem. So we have the the fun annual parade leads into a whole two blocks downtown Salem where we get to have live entertainment and there'll be food and free activities and just a whole bunch of fun for people to have. So we kind of wanted to come and talk about that and all the great things Pride does. Man, the Pride Block Party is always a blast. You just have so much fun there. Yeah. It can be. No, it's usually I like to say that no matter what you come as, whether it's an entertainer or a participant, or you're just, you know, there because you were drugged by friends, or you're there as a volunteer, they're gonna have a little bit of fun somehow. Like I've only ever attended as a volunteer. That's sort of maybe it's a gift and a curse, but I always have fun because there's people there that I get to, you know, talk with and chat with or boss around if Rowan is there because I need someone to run around and do something. But yeah, it's always something fun. Um, something fun to do. Yeah, is it uh for anybody who's listening and kind of tuned out for the first section, this how the you how many years have we done this already? Oh, that's a great question. I I I like twenty at least three. That's how long I've been with us, and I think it was at least one more year before that. Okay, okay. Because it used to be mostly the Riverfront Park, the Pride in the Park, and then at some point uh Zach, the president of Meredith, uh you have to say it in that voice, so it's important. Um, he applied to a separate grant to be able to do something in June, because people really wanted obviously something in June to celebrate. So that's where that came from. Oh. I thought it was originally run by a different group, and then Capitol Pride took it over. There might very well have been. This was before my time. I do know that to some degree the like Pride Parade itself is meant to commemorate, you know, there was an initial like small parade that was done many, many years ago with like eight people and a dog or something. Um we have like newspaper clippings of it, and it's just sort of like it was very few of them, but we're sort of standing on their shoulders and how it's grown over the years. So that's where it's a sad state of the world when you say eight people, and I'm like, oh, what about the dog? Does anybody have pictures of the dog? I want to see the dog. I think they might have been in like a newspaper clipping picture. Sadly, to think about those probably dead. But um, beyond that, um I'm sure it had a great time at the Pride Parade. It lived hard. I think they caught there was a march though. They did more of a march though. Uh-huh. Because it was more of like they were still fighting for more of well, well, I guess we are too, but they were definitely uh they're doing it in spite of social norms. And we're expecting this to be downtown, correct? It will be downtown, yep. It'll be between uh Front Street and Liberty Street. We'll be right there. Uh just be two blocks and we'll have our entertainment and food and uh free activity booths. Awesome. I mean I mean I I think about Pride and Pride Block Party and everything that we do every year here, both in September and in June now, kind of as a tradition. And I just kind of think about like all the times that or everything that pride can mean to everybody. You know, it has a different meaning to all of us. Uh some of us it can be a moment of grief, some of us it can be a moment of like revelation and just kind of coming out. A lot of people like to come out on Pride Pride Month, and then you also have like the just a celebratory vibe of it. And so I I'm always curious, and this time I'm actually gonna include myself and Talo in the conversation. Like, what what is your memory of pride or what does it mean to each one of you? You want to start wrong? Yeah. I've talked a little bit. Yeah, so definitely uh the word that comes to mind is abundance. Um I think that it's very fitting that Pride Month is in June, like at the peak of summer. Obviously, plants are my biggest thing, so it's huge for me that those two things kind of coincide. It feels kind of like a Dionysian frenzy. Um, like it's just and it brings uh people in from further away, and you just kind of get to see everyone in one place, and it really uh definitely brings something out in everyone. Yeah, yeah, definitely. What about you two? I well I can go. Um I for me, I never, you know, did really did anything for Pride uh until I started as a volunteer for Pride, as a treasurer, three years ago. Uh after Zach asked me to do that, all of a sudden I had to be at events. Um and that was the first time I'd ever been to a Pride event was serving in our merch booth for that first year. And uh what it made me realize is how I think if it's a tad bit of sadness, because it made me realize like how much I had sort of just not been celebrating. That I was like, I never you'd just think, oh, this is how I am, right? And I never thought that's worth celebrating. And and now that that's a deep that's a deep therapy thing, but um really it also came out in pride, right? It's sort of just not feeling like, oh, this is a time to celebrate. But I think the longer I've been involved and the more I see so many people come up to the booth and they want all the different flags and they like fans and they get the tumblers and they're really excited, not just obviously to get the merch because that's cool, but also just to be there and to have a moment where they get to celebrate with like-minded people is well, it's one of the few times I do get slightly sappy, but I can't during the day because I'm too busy volunteering. Uh, but uh when I get to go home after, I get to have that moment of like that was a really cool thing that we were able to do, and I'm really happy for it. Um I do look forward to you know, sometime in the future being able to participate as a non-volunteer for a little bit to just enjoy it as a as a participant. But uh yeah, for me that's that's sort of specifically the event, but um yeah, that's sort of where I where I find myself with that. It just occurred to me last year we had a wedding, didn't we? Oh yeah, so last year there was a wedding on stage. Yeah. Yeah. We're not doing one this year, but uh we did have one, yes. Amazing. Cool, cool. Uh I'm newer to participating in pride pride than some of you. Um like I used to go to Pride back when I lived in San Francisco sometimes, and I mostly resent re remember just like how packed it was. Like literal shoulder to shoulder people. There's a lot of bodies, some of them don't. Then you then you walk up and there's a bunch of naked guys on the green. Oh my god. That's where it all turns around. Happy pride. But um the last two or one or two, like uh the last block party, I was kind of newly exploring and transitioning, and so that's like oh I get to try new things. Like I think it was like Yeah, I was in a dress for out in out in the sun for like the first time. And no one's gonna everyone's gonna be happy for you when you're trying new things, when you're exploring new things at Pride. And at the the last Pride in the Park Park, that was the first time I was uh doing my uh my mochi and just the excitement and just serving the community, and that was amazing. Yeah, definitely. I remember that, taking pictures as well. Yeah. I was so happy. I remember uh Pride at the park and also uh the Pride Block Party is usually where somebody will bring in like a carriage with a small duck. I don't remember that. I remember the joke. Just look for it, go ahead. I do remember the llama. Yeah, keep it. Yeah, there is a person who walks in, and whoever you are, I wanna I wanna talk to you. Shout out to the llama guy. Yeah, to the llama guy, and we have the the little duck that's always so cute in little carriage. Well the the llamas available for interviews, I think. He has his own book. He has his own circuit. You're gonna bring him on the book. The Comic Con nearby. It's a public public event event, Caesar, Caesar The No Drama Llama. The no drama llama is there. Yeah. Wait, so but you said that that the llama has its own podcast? It has its own book. Oh, it has its own book. Yeah. Okay, like this llama can write. Yeah. It's very talented. Just uh yeah, so my experience with Pride, um the first one actually that I attended was the Monmouth one. Um I was able to work with uh the the count city council member down there, um, and it was I think we were able to kind of put the monmouth one together, and it was a really great time. However, it was on uh the same day when it reached 116 degrees. It was brutal that day. It was so bad, like sweltering heat. And um and and every other pride after that has always been a really good moment of solidarity. I think sometimes you feel like uh Salem is not a very queer space. And then you see the turnout at Pride or at Block Party, and you're like, holy where is everybody at this point? Like last time I heard it was like Pride at the Park, it was like close to 10,000. That's like usual. Yeah, we had a lot of people for sure. Attendance numbers, yeah, it's quite a bit. And I know that like block party sometimes, like last year it was crowded. Even the governor was out there waving. That was a great time. But solidarity to me and pride is kind of like what I connect. That like the understanding that you know we come from a long history of protests and fighting and standing for things, and also people without clothes running down the street and just celebrating their s their bodies. Yeah. Well, I mean, we do try very hard to be family friendly with Salem stuff, so usually they're scantily clad. Yeah. They still have clothes to keep your clothes on Salem. But it is I I do agree, it's a great opportunity. I often see it as even though I'm involved with Pride and I see like queer people all the time, it's so easy to be at home and feel, oh, there's no other queer people. I feel so alone, I never get to see anybody. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, where are they? Like they all come out, it just comes out of the woodwork. So all these people are there and they're celebrating. And I think that's wonderful. But I often, because it's a two-party event, right? We have the pride parade that leads into the block party. For me, part of how I see it is like that pride parade is a remembrance of all those who came and worked hard for all their marches and all the like the fight for the even to have a parade to be able to celebrate, and then it ends in like two blocks of just joyous entertainment and revelry that like not to say we've made it, but like we made it to the promised land, so to speak, but we get to have this momentous time where we get to have food and we get to watch entertainment, we get to be there as a community. It it's I see it as very symbolic, and I love that flow of things, how we start and and end, we start with the parade and end with uh the block party is just it's such a way of reminding people that they're a part of something bigger, I think. And so I do agree with you that that's that's a really important part for a lot of people. Yeah, if we if we were to at that point to that point too, um if I was a listener right now and I was hesitant about going to the block party coming up very soon, um, from the day this is a recording, what why would I why should I attend? Oh lots of good things. Uh so we have live entertainment the whole time. So various drag performers, we have a queer tet. Like it's gonna be good. And even in between sets, we'll have lots of good music throughout the whole time. We have so many different vendors, like we have uh some Mexican food, we have drinks, we have uh sling and wieners coming again. Sling and wieners. Yeah, everyone loves that. I mean, we get the the entendre there, but we also get some nice hot dogs out of it. So that's it. Vegan hot dogs, too. Yes, vegan. Yeah. Uh and that's just the food part, but we work really hard. Part of the block party, uh, in contrast to the later one we do uh the riverfront is that it's all free activity booths. So even if we have sponsors that come and get a booth, we ask them to do a free activity. So they'll do things like uh sometimes they'll do making things or like giant uh Connect 4 or Kerplunk or uh we're gonna have some acrobatic type display stuff, and people can do arts and crafts. So we really try and make it. There's a lot of different diverse activities people can do. They are all listed on the website, so I'd highly encourage looking at all those because there's lots of face painting. Becca's coming from Becca Makes Buttons because we have her every year. So custom buttons. Uh and then the massage people, oh, backed by popular demand. The massage table is coming back again, so we have that. So, really, I mean, I guess if you want to have your body touched, face back, um, if you want to have your soul touched, come and enjoy the entertainment. So there's a lot of really good reasons, I think, to come, even if you're gonna volunteer, which I would highly encourage, because we have a few spots for that too. There is also a sensory relief booth for anyone who struggles with stuff like that. We take it seriously, we put it in a quiet place um to give people a bit of an escape if they have sensory issues. Um yeah, there's not such a focus on like vendors and selling stuff um like some other Pride events. Um we definitely take a lot of pride in that. Yeah, and you don't sorry, you were gonna say something, Tello. No, I'm I'm good. I lost it or whatever it was. Oh no, sorry. I I also think about like why I would want to attend Pride is sometimes when you are a person who's still closeted, like you can show up to Pride and you can just kind of like check it out. You don't you don't have to come out. You can just be a person who's passing by. I think usually the same the same weekend there's like a the clothing swap out in the back or right behind I don't know if it's connected, but but like there's some sort of something happening right in downtown, whether you're just kind of a person who's just buying things from a nearby uh store or going to a restaurant, you can just peek in and find that our community is here and we are l like we are interested in getting to know you and getting to meet you and having you part of our community. Yeah, considering it's in the middle of downtown. I mean, do you have plausible deniability for why you would be there? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Everybody's welcome. Everybody's welcome. Um I I don't think it's the greatest place for meeting people, but no, a lot of people will come with people they know, right? They'll come with their friend a friend group, or it's a real good place for I see this a lot where people come up, especially if they're getting flags or fans or something, you know, to commemorate the day. They have a relative they've brought who might not be part of the queer community, but this is a great opportunity because you know we try to be family friendly, that they're able to invite their family and be like, here, here's a small glimpse into my life, here's a small glimpse into my community, even if like I'm not gonna show you anybody who's here because I don't really know anybody in particular, but this is us. Thank you for coming. I think that's great that people can invite their family. And it is, I mean, we try to put on a good show and have foods and things and exposure in all the right ways. Yeah, yes. That should be the the slogan for the event. A block party, exposure in all the right ways. Yeah. Next year. Next year. No, yeah, yeah. We'll have to keep it in mind for next year. Yeah. I mean, I I could also see people, you know, I think there are some people who arrive at the block party who know that it's gonna happen. And I would say a good percentage of them are also just like, what? There's a pride year, and then just kind of start attending. Yeah. Um, and I think that's a really good way because you know, we view uh Capital Pride uh the organization as kind of like the mothership in our way. We've said that numerous times before, and in that same way, it's like if you get plugged into the mothership, you'll be able to connect to all the other programming that Capital Pride is currently doing. Um and and then there are other things like Rainbow Youth is there, Becca Makes Buttons, it has Radness and Seuss connected to it. And then, you know, we have multiple other opportunities and and and I I think we're gonna have a booth for the Salem Pride and Resource Center there as well. So that'll be a really cool opportunity for those there. Um I also was thinking just in the top, like just right now, it came up to m it came into my mind was you know, there are a lot of things happening in June. Like Pride Month is intense for our community. Yeah. Like this weekend is Monmouth, next one is Capital uh our Capital Pride's uh block party, and then and then we have Eugene at the end of the month, and then July goes in, and then September. I mean, those are different months, but like why specifically would anybody choose to come to Salem Pride? Oh, well, that's a good question. Well, partly we get the people that do the Pride circuits. That's why I sort of say they like to hit all of them that go to the different ones. But also I think it's slightly different in that not to say all the others aren't family friendly, but there's a lot more skin and such exposed at some of the bigger events sometimes, and I think that can be a little bit much for like if you're gonna invite a family member, for instance, sometimes that's a little jarring. I mean, even for me, it's jarring, and I love seeing certain exposed bodies, right? Um, I'm like, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, back it up. You're too close to me without clothes on. You know, we have that we have an agreement before this. Um, so I think for me it's a little bit that where it not only is uniquely Salem, because let's be fair, we somehow have this sort of oddity of like we like to be loud, but we do it quietly. And I don't really know how to describe it other than that. Is it's just a way of being where it's like, okay, we're gonna be loud but not too loud. We're here, we have entertainment. Oh, we give even when we give out the sound notices, we're so nice about it. We're like, we're so sorry about this, but thank you. You know, just to let them know there's gonna be entertainment. Um, and I think to me, that's sort of the Salem way to do it. And I think just inherently that it's gonna give you variety and see how different places do it. So I would certainly encourage people who have the opportunity to go to different ones, certainly to go to different ones. As someone who's only ever been to one but gets exhausted from that and hasn't had the opportunity. My sister, who is not queer, has been to more than I have. She brings me buttons and socks and stuff from all these different ones. I've never been able to go. So uh I'd highly encourage it if you have the opportunity. Add it to your circuit. One thing I'd I'd uh that's unique about the the Salem Pride block party is how non-commercial it is. Yeah, we do try really hard. I mean, certainly we do try to get sponsorships because it just helps us bounce the cost. But even then, like if sponsors do have a booth, we we were like, nope, you don't don't hand out flyers and things, you're here to do a free activity. You've already got your exposure, we're gonna do a thank you post and put you on our website. But you know, it's not for you. That's not the point. It's not for you. Yeah, so it's really meant to be a celebration for us and for things for our community to do. So we do try very hard to um not be as corporate in that regard. Other than, yeah, it's a bit it is a business that has money, right? So we do have to try and get a little bit of money, but beyond that, we do try really hard to not make it all about that. I think in general, it's always a good idea to attend your city's Pride, right? If you're from Salem or Kaiser, uh I I highly recommend that you come to Pride. Because one, it'll get you this idea that yeah, like our queer community is a lot bigger than you thought it would be. That's the first thing that'll come up. You might be like, oh my god, there's a lot of people here. And the second thing is you'll probably get to meet or see people that you know, maybe a coworker that you ran into were like, oh hey, you know, kind of like do that Spider-Man meme of just like pointing at each other. Um, but I think it is a really great way to, even though you might not be able to talk to each other because it's sometimes pretty loud, uh, thanks for the sensory room. Um, but it it's a great way to start kind of connecting with that community. We do also fund these events with grants, and that does require reporting. And so we have volunteers often like with little clickers at uh entrances and exits. It's um counting how many people are coming in. So we do track attendance and it does help us get where money if you come. So if that's if that's any motivation. Subtle plug. Bring everybody you can. Yeah. Please. They won't give us money if you don't come. You have to come to them begging. No, I I anyway, I do think yes, it is a great opportunity to meet people. But also, like there's some people that they they haven't yet got plugged into our online community with Discord or have been on a website to see the events calendar. So some people, a lot of people come by the info booth and they'll just chit-chat with people that are there and learn about oh, you do that program? I didn't even know you had this board game thing. Cool. Oh, you have a whole DND like a whole program. Oh, cool, I'm gonna be involved with that. Yeah. And that's great. And also we can point them in the direction like here's a Discord, get involved with the community there as well. So it is a nice opportunity to direct people. Because we we have something for everybody, and there's just no way that a lot of people would find that out for certain like niche things. So it's nice to have a little centralized thing where people can meet each other. I'm also thinking, you know, attending Pride or attending Block Party and and sort of like the beyond, right? This is a great opportunity for us to also highlight some of the things that Capital Pride is already. If you haven't listened to the podcast from Zach and Matthew and Shade, um, then you probably haven't like heard what happens. But if a person shows up to the block party and they were just like, wow, I really like this. This was really fun. I wonder if there's any more opportunities. What do you all have for that? Oh, so many things. So I I my general spiel for it is like we have 10-ish monthly recurring programs. So some of those are part of the year, some of them are every month for the whole year, uh including community discounts like yoga and rock climbing. But then we also have our free ones like show up to board games or be a part of a DD group or show up to crafts, like all those things. I would definitely say look at our website, Salem Capital Pride.org. We have all of our programs listed there, as well as that'll lead you to our Discord so you can get plugged in there because lots of people will meet separately. They'll be like, hey, I want to go for speed walking. Okay, I say it because I love speed walking. I haven't gone with anybody that's said it yet, but they'll say that and then they'll all of a sudden they have a friend group. They're meeting regularly, you know, and that's a that's a great place. Uh, even if it's not something we do officially and it's not one of our programs, people can get plugged in that way. And it's do you want to plug your your speedwalking group of no? I tend to do it around the house. I have I can do inside my house a loop, and I just it is, it's a whole circuit. My nieces and nephews will do it too. They're much faster than I am. But uh yeah, it certainly is a fun way to connect. I'm just imagining you in a hamster wheel now. I do have one, I do have a treadmill as well. So I do speedwalk on that because I used to be able to speedwalk faster than pe some people can run. Those hips go to town, let me tell you what. I can just imagine an announcer in the background. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third third third daily lunch run. It's like I just on my brakes, I just walk in and go to the treadmill. I mean sorry, that's a bit off topic. It is, it is, it is. It's real though. Um so I I did want to kind of cut follow up to that same question. Uh, and kind of going back to Pride. So what should you know, you've mentioned some of the things that people uh what that we're gonna see there, but what should people expect from this year's Pride and how might it be different from previous? Oh okay, well, so we talked a little bit about the food stuff. Right. We got some classics as well, some new. Uh, and then my goodness, we've added so many more activity booths this year. Like the I I had to put together the website for this one, and let me tell you that list was much longer than before, and it made me exhausted. Uh, I'm I'm sort of glad I don't have to do all the activities. I just have to help set up for it. But uh goodness gracious, yeah. We got things like the connect four, we have uh drawing and ribbon making and crayon etching and a lot of craft related things, as well as some people are gonna do cornhole. Like we just have so many different things. We have a community paint by number. Oh, yeah. That's gonna be color by color. I think that's by uh is it P flag, I think? No, no, no, no. Ooh, ooh. There's so many, there's so many that I can't like quite piece together, but yes, it is very Are we gonna get the the Lego people again? Less? Like I don't think it's I think we didn't get the Lego bit. Oh but I think the closest we're getting this year is that community paint by number. That's amazing. Which can just be a great big community paint by number. Oh, actually, hold on. It's the Salem Kaiser, I remembered. It's the Salem Kaiser uh Pride uh student committee. Oh they they put that all together. So they're having a booth this year and that's what they're doing. Um and I'm very excited for it. Because I'm like they I like to I like the idea that we're not I don't want to say rewarding. That sounds like you know they've but they've done, they've worked really hard to get to the point where they can do this and show up and have the confidence that I never had in high school, as well as they can put in all the effort to put together what's I hope is going to be an amazing thing. That's amazing. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. So I I want to wrap it up here, if if it's alright with you all. I I want to hear what what last message do you have for people who are listening in to this episode. Do you want to go first? Wear sunscreen. Please wear sunscreen and stay hydrated. We don't want any medical um events to happen. Please wear sunscreen. And bring water. And bring water. Yeah. And there will be there will be businesses and stuff that are open that will probably you'll be able to get water there. I mean, there's watering stations. We have a first aid uh booth as well. Just uh take care of yourself, please. I would plug the the businesses in and the one that I always like to go to, but we're not sponsored, so hey, you know. Yeah, I mean that was a a a very wholesome ending. Um for me, it's like if you're gonna wear sunscreen, wear it. If not, that's your fault. Um but I'll say more of the the uh more of our upcoming things is I'd be very excited to see everybody who's gonna show up. But also, if this is maybe not your cup of tea and you want to come to the bigger one at Riverfront, uh all of the applications for that go live the same day. So if you want to be a vendor for that or if you want to be entertainment, like if you come to this block party and you say, I could be an entertainer, I sing better than them, great. Do an application for Pride in the Park because we're gonna review that. We're gonna look at it, right? Also it. Yes, come and prove it. Oh, I almost now want to do like an American Idol style. I we don't have the time or anything, but I really want to. Um anyway, so yeah, I'd certainly say be on the lookout, even just for that, because Pride It seems like Pride is only in June, but it's not. Like we have a community throughout the year with all of our programs, and then we have like we just finished Queer Prom, which was amazing. Oh, it was uh and then we have our riverfront in September, the Pride in the Park. Like it doesn't end. We always have things going on, and I would say it is eternal. You cannot escape it. That should be the the what the uh the logo for the motto for the building. That one. So spark for spark, but uh pride, what was it? Pride never pride is eternal. Oh, pride is eternal. But it's a flame because it's spark. Right. I like this. Oh, I like that a lot. That's it. Alright. Alright, awesome. Oh, there's a bosun. Matthew, Rowan, your time here's up. Thank you both of you so much. It's so good to talk to you uh again for Matthew and to meet Rowan. Um please tell us where in the sea to find you. Yeah, so you can find us and stuff about our events at Salemcapitalpride.org, and especially check out our queer events calendar. It has all of our programs and events and even other things that aren't hosted by us. Great. Yeah, please subscribe and you and leave a review if you like our podcast as well. Uh or you can support us on Crafty Coyotes, a no space, uh, and in between, that's the Patreon. Alright, on your way out, if you could put in a better word than you did last time with our captain, that'd be great. Because it is Pride Month, I will put in a good word for you, but only because it is Pride Month. Yes. Alright, and remember Salem. Even when the seas are choppy, voice