SPOKANE, Wash. — June is Pride Month, and the City of Spokane is gearing up for its Spokane Pride celebrations starting Saturday, June 8, with this year's Pride Parade.
The Spokane Pride Parade will start at noon, and with it comes a festival that will host multiple entertainers.
There will also be a Youth Zone, a clubhouse-style space for teenagers to hang out, play games and more, as well as a Spokane Pride Kids Zone for children ages 12 and under.
Small businesses will also be in attendance across the parade route, along with food trucks courtesy of the Greater Spokane Food Truck Association and beverage gardens for adults ages 21 and up.
After the festival kicks off at 1 p.m., head to the Lilac Bowl starting at 3:30 p.m. to check out some performances before an All Ages Dance Party takes over at 6 p.m.
Spokane Pride Executive Director Matthew Danielson has prepared for Spokane’s Pride Parade since last year.
“It's families, it's friends, and it's just us having the best weekend of the year,” Danielson said.
Danielson says more than 100 participants will take part in this year’s parade.
The parade has gone on in Spokane for more than three decades and continues to grow.
“It has grown so much," Danielson said. "It's like 10s of 1000s of people out here. We're one of the community's largest events now.”
But because of the crowd, Spokane Pride is taking extra steps to keep people safe.
“We’re taking all the necessary precautions. For an event this size, security is top of our mind," Danielson said.
Spokane Pride say there'll be de-escalation trained volunteers and private hired security on hand throughout the day. Spokane Police say they'll have extra officers along the entire parade route as well as officers directing traffic.
“This is a really critical moment to continue to show support and as LGBTQ people to show up and say, 'we're still here,'” Spokane City Councilmember Zack Zappone said.
Zappone helped push new legislation in Washington State which makes hate crimes on public property a felony.
“In Spokane, we all belong and making sure that we're emphasizing our hate crimes and making sure that people across different walks of life all feel like they belong in Spokane,” Zappone said.
Danielson says there’s been more vandalism against LGBTQ people this past year. But that vandalism is not having the intended effect.
"It does kind of feel like the vandalism is making pride more important and more visible, which, I mean, I don't like the vandalism, but I don't know if you're feeling like vandalizing like you're just kind of giving us more power and making us come together as a community," Danielson said.
The parade is expected to take about an hour. Right after the parade, Spokane Pride will also have a festival with local vendors and performances at Riverfront Park throughout the rest of the afternoon.
For more information on the day's events, click this link.
In case you aren't able to make it to Saturday's events, no need to worry! There are many more events you can take part in this June, including Spokane's first LGBTQ+ 5K fun run/walk "Rainbow Run" on Saturday, June 15, USL Spokane Pride Night at the One Spokane Stadium on Saturday, June 23 and the Perry District Pride event on Friday, June 29.
To find out more about these events, click here.
To learn more about Spokane Pride, go here.
It's going to be warm this weekend, so if you decide to attend this year's festivities, be sure to stay hydrated and check the forecast for the latest.
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