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About Bremerton
Bremerton's Pride is called Kitsap Pride, and it is run by the Kitsap Pride Network, a nonprofit with a Bremerton mailing address that relies entirely on volunteers. Its stated mission is to celebrate, support and unite the LGBTQIA+ community of Kitsap County. Bremerton is the county's largest city, so much of that work happens here.
The main event is the festival, held every year on a Saturday in July from 3 to 8 pm. It takes place on Gordon Fields at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds on Fairgrounds Road NW in Bremerton, and organizers plan for more than 6,000 visitors. Around a hundred booths from local businesses, advocacy groups and health and social service providers fill the grounds, along with food vendors, a beer garden and family areas. The stage features performers from Kitsap, the cast of the network's own drag brunch, Mimosas & Marys, and a DJ set to close the day. Admission is free.
The festival anchors a full weekend. On Friday there is a kick-off party aboard the USS Turner Joy, the museum destroyer at the end of the waterfront boardwalk, and on Sunday a recovery drag brunch.
The story started small. It began with a picnic of 35 people at Scenic Beach State Park, and in the early years the community met mostly in private homes and with allies. Pride later held its first public event at Evergreen Park, and the Kitsap Pride Network was then formed as an independent nonprofit. During the pandemic it sent out Pride-in-a-Box kits, and when the festival moved to the fairgrounds afterwards it drew record crowds.
The network stays busy outside July. Together with Kitsap Regional Library it hosts Pink Prom, a free dance for LGBTQIA+ youth aged 14 to 20 at the Dr. MLK Jr. Library downtown, and it keeps a year-round calendar of fundraisers and community events.
Bremerton Pride – frequently asked questions
From the magazine
Magnus Hirschfeld and His Institute: What Was Lost on 6 May 1933
Long before Stonewall, Berlin had a place where homosexual people found advice and recognition. How the Institute for Sexual Science began and why it was destroyed in 1933.
Harvey Milk and Proposition 6: The November 1978 Victory
In 1978 a California ballot measure would have forced queer teachers out of public schools. Harvey Milk fought it, and voters rejected it. What happened and what it has to do with Pride.
Brenda Howard and the Pride Week: Who Turned a Memorial March into a Tradition
After Stonewall, a march marked the anniversary in 1970, and later a whole week. Brenda Howard is named as one of the people behind it. What is documented and where the title Mother of Pride stays disputed.