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About Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City celebrates Pride every June, and it does so twice. The older of the two events is Pride on 39th Street. It takes place around NW 39th Street, the city's traditional LGBTQ+ district, which locals often simply call "The Strip". It is run by OKC Pride Inc., the organisation that has managed Pride week on the Strip since the late 1980s. The city's tourism board describes it as the largest privately held event in Oklahoma.
Alongside it there is Oklahoma PrideFest in Scissortail Park downtown, organised by the Oklahoma City Pride Alliance. The move downtown also brought a parade of its own through the city centre. Recent editions have drawn tens of thousands of people to the park.
There is a story behind the two festivals. Younger organisers wanted to move the festival and parade from the Strip to downtown, while several bar owners on 39th Street did not. The dispute ended up in court. The bars kept the "OKC Pride" name, and the Pride Alliance launched its own festival in Scissortail Park. Since then the two events have run side by side, usually on different weekends in June.
For visitors this means two very different experiences. On the Strip, Pride is a street party in and around the bars, with drag, music and a crowd of regulars. In Scissortail Park it is a large festival with stages, stalls, a parade and plenty of families. Exact dates are usually set in spring and published on the city's tourism website. If you want to see both, plan a few days in June.
Oklahoma City Pride – frequently asked questions
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