‘It’s time to fold.’ Organizers cancel a rural Ohio Pride, citing lack of support

Organizers of a rural Ohio Pride celebration announced on Wednesday that a lack of funding and volunteers has forced them to cancel the event less than a month before the planned date. 

Pride-goers were set to converge on June 13 in Upper Sandusky – a small city in Northwest Ohio – 60 miles south of Toledo, for the community’s second annual Pride celebration. 

Brittany Rayl organized the inaugural event in July 2025 as a way to create an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community closer to home: Columbus’ festivities are well over an hour away and Toledo’s Pride isn’t until August. 

“Why not just do it?” Rayl told The Buckeye Flame last year. “Why not create an opportunity for people right here in our own community?”

This year, Rayl moved the event to June, lining up the event with Pride Month celebrated across the country. 

According to a post on the official Upper Sandusky Pride Facebook page, organizers started planning the 2026 celebration in the fall, and made the announcement in February that the event would be held in Harrison Smith Park. 

Since that announcement, organizers said that they have received “very little tangible support.”

“We received 4 volunteer sign ups of the 33 positions established,” Rayl wrote in the post. “That included zero interest [from] 2 of our 3 major activity planners, leading to the decision to cut both the kids-area entertainment and the talent show.”

Ultimately, organizers were able to book one food truck, three vendors and six community organizations to table at the event. 

“Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to draw traffic or really call it a festival,” organizers wrote. 

Additionally, due to a “lack of funding,” organizers were “not able to secure more than two performers.” 

“After six months of planning, communicating, and trying to get this off the ground, it looks like it’s time to fold,” organizers wrote in the post. 

When reached for comment, Rayl said that she can do a lot, but that she “can’t replace the people and businesses needed to create a full-scale event.”

“We got a lot of feedback last year of people offering support, but this year they just didn’t show up as expected,” Rayl said via email. 🔥