Hotels around Saint Charles
Tap the map for prices and availability.
About Saint Charles
Saint Charles sits on the Missouri River, about half an hour west of St. Louis, and with just over 70,000 residents it is one of the larger cities in Missouri. Its brick-lined historic downtown draws day visitors, but the city has no queer bar scene of its own. The community is most visible once a year.
That is when Pride St. Charles holds its festival. The nonprofit is run by volunteers and began as a project of the local PFLAG chapter, a network of parents, families and friends of LGBTQ+ people. Even the first edition drew several thousand visitors, and attendance has grown well beyond that since.
The festival takes place in June and is designed to be family-friendly. Expect stage performances, more than a hundred vendor booths, food trucks, story time, a family area and a Youth Village for teenagers, plus a separate 21+ VIP area for adults. The venue has moved several times, from Lakeside Park in neighbouring St. Peters to Frontier Park on the downtown riverfront and on to the Family Arena in the north of the city, so check the organisation's website for the current location before you go.
There is no parade. Pride St. Charles works more as a gathering point for St. Charles County, where queer spaces are otherwise few and far between. Through the year the group runs smaller events, such as trivia nights hosted at a Methodist church downtown.
For a large Pride with a march, head to St. Louis, where the region's bigger celebrations take place.
Saint Charles 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.