Celebrating joy and belonging at Pride Night in the Park
Published 4:30 pm Friday, July 31, 2026
With the uplifting sounds of an ABBA tribute band soaring through Mercerdale Park, attendees at Mercer Island’s annual Pride Night in the Park had a skip in their step during the celebration on the evening of July 30.
It was double the festivities at Mercerdale with the ABBAgraphs taking charge at Mostly Music in the Park to go along with the Pride gathering, which the city described as a joyful, family-friendly celebration of belonging.
Mercer Island City Council proclaimed June as Pride Month on the Island at its June 2 regular meeting.
At the Eastside Pride PNW booth, president Corrinalyn Guyette said the event is all about celebrating love, people and equality.
“I think the biggest thing is visibility matters, so showing up for the community is huge. I drove an hour plus to be here tonight, so did my family, so that we could be sure to be here and showing up proud,” she said.
City of Mercer Island recreation specialist Chris del Pilar stood nearby a Happy Pride sign at one of the city’s tents after discussing the Pride event from the main stage and introducing the ABBAgraphs. Cheers filled the air as the events got underway.
Getting as many people together as possible to have a nice time is key, del Pilar said.
“We’ve done our Pride events in the past, which have had some good reception, but we wanted to try and have it accessible to as many people as possible, just keeping that message of how the community is open to everyone all the time,” said del Pilar, adding that the community is always welcome and supportive of everyone.
Also on the city of Mercer Island front, Youth and Family Services’ prevention programs coordinator Michelle Ritter displayed some of the vital messages that kids had written on a paper chain at the booth: “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” “Pride is love,” “Love is love,” “Respect” and more. One attendee drew rainbow-colored hearts.
“We’re just celebrating everyone in our community and letting folks know who are LGBTQ or maybe allies that we are here to support — whether you’re a family member who’s supporting a young person or whether you are LGBTQ yourself that we are open and accepting of everyone and that we’re here to celebrate and provide support,” Ritter said.
Ann Palmason, a 72-year Mercer Island resident, has attended many Seattle Pride events and made it out to her first local Pride event on July 30 as part of the Congregational Church on Mercer Island group at its tent.
“We’re really happy that we’ve got so many gay, lesbians, trans people in our church and we can stand up for them and it feels just great to do that for this community,” she said.
While soaking up the sun and events, Islander Nicole Sar said that ABBA is one of her all-time favorite bands and noted that, “We are allies of anything related to LGBTQ+.”
Holding a miniature Pride flag and sporting a Pride button, Faith Shewell said she was present, “To see the community and how Pride is spread across the community.”
