Where to celebrate Pride, and why festivities are in July
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The Portland Pride Parade in 2019. This is the second year the parade will take place in July instead of June. Photo: Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As Pride Month comes to an end in many cities across the country, Portland's festivities are just beginning.
Why it matters: This is the second year organizers at Pride Northwest decided to extend celebrations into July so they wouldn't compete for waterfront space with the city's myriad June events, including Rose Festival, PDX Beer Week, Delta Park Powwow and Juneteenth.
- That just means more fun for us!
The big picture: Pride Month is observed nationally in June as an annual commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. It celebrates and raises awareness for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when queer and trans rights are under attack.
Between the lines: Portland is home to one of the largest LGBTQ+ communities in the country, but the city has lost dozens of queer-owned businesses and spaces in the last decade — a loss only compounded by the pandemic.
Zoom in: The 30th annual Pride festival and parade near the end of July — the theme this year is Feast and Love — promises to be the most action-packed, though there are plenty of other fun ways to celebrate Portland's vibrant queer scene in the meantime.
Here are a few events catching our eye:
LGBTQ+ vendors will sling vintage wears, home goods, handmade crafts and art inside downtown's Hotel Zags.
- July 12, 515 SW Clay St., 6–9pm
- Free
Perhaps the best place to see and be seen is at one of the last LGBTQ+ strongholds in the original "PinkTriangle'' section of downtown.
- July 14–16 and 19–21, 1125 SW Harvey Milk St.
- Free
Dance the night away to music from gay community icons like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj.
- July 19, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., doors at 9pm
- Free before 10pm with RSVP
Trans speakers will host the rally before kickoff, and local organizers will be tabling across the North Park Blocks. The Dyke March begins at Tom McCall Waterfront Park shortly after this one ends.
- July 20, 235 NW Park Ave., 2–5pm
- Free
The inaugural event hosted by Portland's buzzy, booze-free pop-up will feature a robust selection of the city's homegrown nonalcoholic purveyors (like Heck and Wilderton), food from Koi Fusion and music.
- July 20 at For Bitter For Worse, 100 NE Farragut St., 5–9pm
- $10–$14
Organizers expect tens of thousands to show up to the city's core for the two-day event, which highlights local queer businesses, artists and performers. "RuPaul's Drag Race" winner and Portland native Jinkx Monsoon headlines.
- July 20 noon–8pm and July 21 11:30am–6pm
- $10 suggested donation
Pride Parade
Dykes on Bikes lead the procession of colorful floats, dancers, musicians, drag queens and more rainbow flags than you could possibly count.
- July 21, starts at North Park Blocks, 11am–2pm
- Free