Denver’s PrideFest Celebrates 50th Anniversary This Summer

14.05.2024 - 08:55 / breakingtravelnews.com

Denver PrideFest, one of the nation’s premier LGBTQ+ events, will celebrate its 50th anniversary June 22-23, 2024. The two-day festival unites communities from across Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region as the parade, run and festival attracted an estimated 550,000 people to downtown Denver in 2023.

Since its inception, Denver PrideFest has been a celebration of unity, inclusion and progress among the LGBTQ+ community and allies. The first LGBTQ+ pride celebration in Denver was held in 1974 as a small gathering in Cheesman Park organized by members of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire. Excitement from that first parade led to the founding of The Center on Colfax in 1975, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides year-round programs and services for the LGBTQ+ community. The Center began producing the parade and added a festival in 1990. Since then, Denver PrideFest has grown into the largest celebration of LGBTQ + pride in the Rocky Mountain region. Denver PrideFest continuously evolves while staying true to its core mission of promoting acceptance, diversity and love.

This year’s 50th anniversary festival kicks off with the Pride 5K presented by Smartwool on Saturday, June 22, followed by the two-day Denver PrideFest event at Civic Center Park boasting 250+ exhibitors, 30 food vendors and captivating live performances. Sunday’s Coors Light Pride Parade, starting at 9:30 a.m., will flaunt colorful floats, marchers, music and more, drawing spectators along 14 blocks of Colfax Avenue up to Civic Center Park. New this year, Denver PrideFest is partnering with The Rainbow Market Denver to create the inaugural Gayborhood Market, a space dedicated to supporting local LGBTQ+ small businesses, entrepreneurs, craft-makers and artisans by lowering the cost barrier to access PrideFest participation. The Market will be located in Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park.

The 2024 celebration will include recollections from some of the key figures in the history of Denver PrideFest, including:

Christopher Sloan (he/him), also known as the legendary Christi Layne, holds a revered position in both LGBTQ+ activism and entertainment circles. Christi held the position as Empress VI of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire, and secured the first permit for the Denver Pride Parade & Festival.
Phil Nash (he/him), a Denver resident since 1976, has left an indelible mark on the city’s LGBTQ+ community. He served as the first director of The Center on Colfax and was the first president of the Board of Directors of the Colorado AIDS Project in 1984. Now returning to his roots in freelance writing, he is set to release LGBTQ Denver through Arcadia Publishing in 2024, offering an informed