Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ community celebrates Easter at Southside Park
About 200 people gathered Sunday afternoon at Southside Park in Sacramento for the fifth annual Blazing Queaster, an LGBTQ-centered Easter celebration featuring music, egg hunts, face painting and a sense of community.
The event marked the seasonal kickoff for Big Queer Cookout, a volunteer-run group dedicated to hosting free, accessible events for Sacramento’s LGBTQ+ community. The organization plans monthly gatherings through the spring and summer.
The cookout began as a pandemic-era effort to bring people together safely, said founding member Erin Mahoney.
Mahoney described the first meet-up as “joyous and lovely.” “Queaster is my favorite day of the year,” they said.
Under rainbow flags, attendees shared food and laughter on picnic blankets. Others colored or joined egg hunts scattered throughout the park.
Indigo Akomolafe set up chairs, blankets and a small table to create what he called a “living room” aesthetic. A sign nearby read, “Come Say Hi!”
He said he enjoys helping people connect and included a bowl of conversation prompts to help break the ice.
“Every queer person has a completely different lived experience that we go through and have to fight against really shapes up in a lot of different ways,” Akomolafe said. “And sometimes it’s really beautiful to see how diverse and resilient and human we all are. And I like to celebrate that.”
Jaymes Luu, dressed in an Easter bunny suit, greeted children, posed for photos and hid eggs throughout the afternoon.
For Luu, Queaster provided a chance for people to support and acknowledge each other.
“What’s not to like about being seen, especially in a world where it’s really tough to feel seen as a queer person,” Luu said. “It’s just good for our souls and for our hearts to be out together.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 9:15 AM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Big Queer Cookout founding member Erin Mahoney’s last name as Manhoney. The version also incorrectly used she/her pronouns instead of they/them pronouns. The errors have been corrected.
