Denver PrideFest

Every year in June, Denver hosts PrideFest, a Gay pride celebration that celebrates the history and culture of the state's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population. The first Denver PrideFest took place in 1976, the same year the Facility on Colfax, a nearby community center, was established. Each year, the Center coordinates and puts on the festival and procession. The current format of the celebration includes a Pride 5K, a two-day festival in Civic Center Park, and a procession along Colfax Avenue. Denver PrideFest is now the third-largest pride festival and seventh-largest pride parade in the United States, with 525,000 visitors each year.

PrideFest takes place throughout the third weekend in June. The week before PrideFest, celebrations start in neighborhood businesses, and they wrap up on the following Sunday. For the Sunday parade, Colfax Avenue is closed between Franklin Street and Broadway in the west. The streets around Civic Center Park (Broadway, the "Colfax Curve," Bannock, and 14th Avenue Parkway) are still closed after the procession for the rally and street fair. Vendors offer a range of goods for sale, including handmade jewelry, stained glass, clothing, food, and services. A number of businesses and groups also rent booths to demonstrate their support for the LGBT community in Denver and Colorado.

Typically, the PrideFest parade kicks off around 9:30 am. Various businesses and groups that promote LGBT rights construct floats. Cheesman Park in Denver's gay quarter, or Capitol Hill, serves as the parade's staging area. The parade begins at Civic Center Park at Broadway and Colfax and travels two blocks north to Colfax Avenue before turning west and traveling roughly a mile toward downtown.

Details: June | Denver, CO