DENVER – After having to move to a virtual celebration last year during the pandemic, Denver PrideFest will be back this summer with a hybrid model that will allow people to celebrate one of the city’s favorite traditions together in person.
This year’s PrideFest, hosted by The Center on Colfax, will take place June 26-27 and involve a variety of both in-person and virtual activities, including an in-person and virtual 5K race, a virtual parade presented by Denver7, a virtual marketplace, and in-person “Pride hubs” across the city where people will be able to celebrate together.
“We believe it’s crucial to provide the community with a range of options to safely connect and celebrate PrideFest this year. While some people might feel comfortable interacting in small gatherings, others may feel safer staying at home. We hope our hybrid approach offers something for everyone,” said Rex Fuller, CEO of The Center.
Typically, PrideFest culminates in a festival at Civic Center Park. But this year, the festival will be broken up into smaller events with capacity limits. Those include:
Denver Museum of Nature and Science: The family-friendly hub for PrideFest, with outdoor music, stories and booths for children. There will also be discounted museum tickets on sale.
The Center on Colfax: A mini-festival in the parking lot featuring food trucks, a DJ, rooftop entertainment and other exhibits.
The Jewish Community Center: Two days of events, including a Saturday night pool party and DJ.
Pride and Swagger: Presents Smirnoff Dance World
The Sie Film Center: Movies and activities.
Some of the venues will use a ticketing system to manage capacity limits and COVID-19 restrictions at the time will be in place, but admission to all of the events will be free. The Center said more locations would be announced in the coming weeks and months.
This year’s PrideFest 5K will be back and will have in-person and virtual options for everyone to participate. The in-person race will be held at Cheesman Park on Saturday, June 26. People can register for the race here.
And for the second straight year, Denver7 will present the Coors Light Virtual Denver Pride Parade, which will be broadcast at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 27 on the social media pages for Denver7 and The Center, as well as our website and streaming apps.
Denver7 will also air a televised broadcast of the parade later in the day on that Sunday.
The virtual parade will be comprised of videos produced by participants, other individuals, organizations and local businesses. People who would like to participate have to fill out an online application by May 7.
The annual PrideFest helps raise money for The Center, which supports organizations and programs for LGBTQ+ youth, seniors, the transgender community, legal and training programs.
The event typically brings nearly half a million people to Civic Center Park over the two days – the largest Pride celebration in the Rocky Mountains.