The 2009 PrideFest:

On Sunday, The woman who originally made Cadillac Records a household name performed live to a diverse crowd at Henry W. Maier Festival Park as the final headline performance for PrideFest 2009. The festival ended its three-day weekend with a stellar entertainment line-up that was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

The legendary Etta James rolled out onto the stage in a bright red scooter while the Roots band provided exciting guitar rifts and a stellar organ performance in the background. Just to clarify, Etta James' band is not to be confused with the American hip hop band of a similar name.

James kept the crowd jumping with a tantalizing performance of "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" and a cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece of my Heart." Of course, the icon sang her much beloved hit "At Last," while couples slow-danced in appreciation.

Prior to James' performance, R&B songstress Deborah Cox pepped up the crowd with her famous dance mix version of "Nobody's Supposed to be Here." And Cox finished her show encouraging the crowd to "share the peace and the love, and have a happy pride!"

While the remainder of the festival grounds closed at 10 p.m., the Dance Pavilion stayed open until midnight for the first time. Swedish entertainer, September sang popular dance hits such as "Cry for You" and "Can't Get Over" before a crowd of screaming fans jumping in time to the music. One fan even risked ejection by festival security in order to reach out and touch the performer.

PrideFest 2009 also hosted the now annual History Exhibit, with interactive Timeline.

"PrideFest 2009 has clearly exceeded all of our expectations," said PrideFest President Scott Gunkel. "Gorgeous weather, great performers, engaging activities and a group of wonderful patrons enjoying every minute of it. This could not have been a better festival this year."

Statistics (Note: Attendance figure above is official total attendance; numbers below are turnstile only and do not necessarily total to official count.)