By Stuart BakLos Angeles is an integral part of the Pride origin story. For it was here in 1970, around a year after the riots at New York’s Stonewall Inn (and three after police raids at LA gay bars the Black Cat Tavern and New Faces) that one of the world’s very first Pride marches took place, alongside similar events in Chicago, San Francisco and the Big Apple itself. More than half a century later, LA Pride is a much-loved feature of the festival calendar: a vibrant, love-soaked celebration of diversity and inclusion that has the whole city partying for weeks on end.
Better still, LA now has not one but TWO inclusive festivals running every June, since the welcome addition of WeHo Pride in 2022. WeHo is based out of LA Pride’s former location in and around West Hollywood Park, while LA Pride has moved back to the OG 1970s location in Hollywood proper. Still with us? If not, all you need remember is that it’s twice the fun it was previously! Rea don as we break down the deets (as chronologically as possible!) with all the essential events from LA's Pride festival season...
Harvey Milk Day
WeHo traditionally kicks off proceedings with an all-singing, all-dancing drag extravaganza on Harvey Milk Day, May 22. The annual José Sarria Drag Pageant is named after the first openly gay person to run for office in the United States, aka the drag performer Widow Norton. Expect dizzyingly high camp and a celebratory atmosphere. In a nod to Harvey, who later became the first openly gay elected official in California, milk and cookies are provided. The event is free, but you’d be well advised to reserve your spot online.
Date: May 22. More info here.
Venice Pride Block Party
The annual Venice Pride Block Party promises live DJs, a queer market, drag performers (of course), a whole host of enticing food trucks, and a few surprises to boot! And all this just inches from the beach. Way to get the party started.
Date: usually the Friday of WeHo weekend. More info here.
Outloud
One of the major success stories of the breakout WeHo Pride celebration, Outloud is a three-day extravaganza of live music at West Hollywood Park. The Friday night opening party is free (but spots must be booked), while Saturday and Sunday are ticketed, with passes available for one or both days. We’re talking some major names, too: acts to appear in the first few years alone include Kylie, Kesha, Janelle Monáe, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Grace Jones.
Date: first weekend of June. More info and tickets here.
WeHo Pride Street Fair
WeHo Pride’s free street party is quite the amuse bouche ahead of the following weekend’s main event, featuring two days of performances – DJ’s, drag acts, fashion parades, mariachi and country bands, and more – across its Rainbow and Celebration stages at Santa Monica Boulevard. The annual Dyke March also kicks off from here on the Saturday afternoon.
Date: first weekend of June. More info here.
WeHo Pride March
The WeHo Pride celebrations culminate with a march through West Hollywood, a river of flamboyant floats and colorful costumes that flows from N. Crescent Heights Boulevard, west along Santa Monica Boulevard to N. San Vicente Boulevard in Hollywood’s iconic Rainbow District. The parade kicks off around noon, and crowns a ‘Parade lifetime ally icon’ each year, with Cyndi Lauper becoming the inaugural holder of the title in 2024.
Date: first Sunday of June. More info here.
An Evening Among The Roses
Soirees don’t come much swankier than The Huntington’s annual garden party celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and its stellar contribution to the museum and its work. Expect string quartets, specialty cocktails, decadent hors d’oeuvres, and slow-dancing in the beautiful rose garden. Tickets start at upwards of $100 for general admission with VIP entry and other increasingly pricey ticket bundles also available. Dress to impress!
Date: first or second Friday in June. More info and tickets here.
LA Pride in the Park
Since returning to its Hollywood Boulevard roots in 2022, the original LA Pride has held its accompanying music festival further east still, in the LA State Historic Park. It’s a big ‘un, too: previous headliners to have filled the 80-foot stage include Megan Thee Stallion, Ricky Martin and Miss Mariah Carey herself! Add some 20 acres of activities, bars, food vendors, a ‘sober garden’ for natural highs, and an X-rated ‘erotic city’ and a good time is more or less guaranteed.
Date: second Saturday of June. More info and tickets here.
LA Pride Parade
No shrinking violet, the epic LA Pride Parade kicks off on Highland Avenue at 11AM, painting a rainbow right across Hollywood Boulevard and down Cahuenga Boulevard. The pot of gold at the end? The LA Pride Block Party, a free all-day street party with live entertainment, drag acts galore, and more food trucks and beer gardens than you can shake a very large stick at. The best spots for ogling the parade’s fantastical floats and outlandish costumes are along the middle of Hollywood Blvd, or opposite the ABC7 broadcast area on Highland. Keep your peepers peeled for the grand marshals; previous incumbents include Harvey Milk, Paris Hilton, Demi Lovato and George Takei.
Date: second Sunday of June. More info here.
Pride is Universal
Ever wanted to experience LA’s Universal Studios after hours? Now’s your chance! The annual Pride is Universal event sees doors open to ticket holders as early as 2PM (VIPs) and 4PM (general admission). So far so normal. But when doors close to the general public at 9PM, you get to stick around! Pride gets the party started with multiple DJ sets and dance zones across the park, with the music continuing until 2AM. Better yet, most of the rides, attractions and restaurants stay open too, but without the long lines! Magical.
Date: varies, but usually the weekend after LA Pride. More info and tickets here.
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Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.
