- June 29, 2024
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Drag performers Karma S. Rose and Karl Withakay. Photo by Sierra Williams
Amber Embers organized the Pride in Bunnell event alongside her husband Julio Torres, who acted as the event's emcee. Photo by Sierra Williams
Drag performers Karma S. Rose and Karl Withakay with Erica Rivera, founder of the National CARE Foundation. Photo by Sierra Williams
Karma S. Rose was one of two drag performers at the Pride in Bunnell event. Photo by Sierra Williams
Pride in Bunnell organizer Amber Embers with drag performers Karl Withakay and Karma S. Rose pose with Alleigh Kelly, 13, and Ophelia Braun, 4. Photo by Sierra Williams
Karma S. Rose and Karl Withakay with siblings Mason, 8, Kaylin, 7, and Madilyn, 4. Photo by Sierra Williams
Marcus Mckinnon, known on social media and in Palm Coast as Black Guy, White Violin, performs at Pride in Bunnell. Photo by Sierra Williams
Joe Meehan, Janet-Lynne LaChance and Jon Mason at Pride in Bunnell at the 2K Ranch. Photo by Sierra Williams
Nature's Palette co-owners Sekala Kendrick and her husband Tim Keeton. Photo by Sierra Williams
Bonbon Kelnbert withe her business Treasures from Okinawa. Photo by Sierra Williams
2K Ranch horse riding instructor Sophia Remedios volunteers at the Pride in Bunnell event for the ranch with her mother, Jaime Remedios. Photo by Sierra Williams
Lexie Kent and Mary Kiernan-Tighe with the Yes on 4 campaign. Photo by Sierra Williams
After Flagler Pride canceled its annual Flagler Pride Fest, one Flagler County resident took it upon herself to ensure the local pride community still had a space to celebrate pride month.
Amber Embers, owner of business Cosmic Hippie and the nonprofit Cosmic Assembly of the Divine Spirit, put together the pride celebration in just one month. It took place on Sunday, June 23 at the 2K Ranch in Bunnell.
"I just really felt like there was a need for something to happen, because, as you probably are aware, we're still in a very conservative area," Embers said. "So I felt like if there wasn't any type of representation for pride this month, then that would have just lost all the traction that we have gained over the past."
Embers said that because she has experience putting together events, it was pretty simple, if hectic, to organize. The event included live music, food trucks, booths for local businesses and resources and a drag show.
Erica Rivera — founder of the National CARE Foundation and the co-founder and former president of Flagler Pride, helped Embers organize the drag show. Drag artists Karma S. Rose and Karl Withakay — who won the 2024 DeLand Pride Pageant and is 2024's Mr. Volusia Pride — performed multiple family-friendly dances at the event.
Rivera has spent the last several years organizing and arranging the Flagler Pride Fest every June. In her experience, she said, it takes a lot of organizing and momentum to reach the large turnouts recent Flagler Pride Fests have sustained. For its first showing, and under such a short time frame, Rivera said, Pride in Bunnell turned out great.
Embers said she was glad the event came together the way it did. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she said she is always looking for ways to create the type of age-appropriate, safe spaces and events that would have made her feel welcome as a teenager.
It's about letting people know they're not the only ones who feel or thinks a certain way, she said.
"That's my motivation, literally, behind everything I do," she said. "I just want to make people feel like they belong somewhere."
