Tacoma Pride 2026 / Tacoma Pride Festival 2026

Tacoma celebrates Pride in July rather than June. The city officially recognizes July as its Pride month, and the main event is the Tacoma Pride Festival, held on a Saturday in Wright Park at 501 South I Street, between downtown and the Stadium District. The festival is organized by the Rainbow Center, the largest LGBTQ+ nonprofit in Pierce County, in partnership with the city's park agency, Parks Tacoma. Admission is free, the festival is open to all ages, and the organizers count tens of thousands of visitors, which makes it the biggest Pride event in the county.

Several events have grown up around the festival. On the evening before, the Rainbow Center hands out the Tacoma Pride Awards at Theatre on the Square on Broadway, honoring people and groups from the local community. On festival day, the bar The Mix hosts the Pride Block Party on St. Helens Avenue in the afternoon; it is limited to guests 21 and over. A week later, the Big Hat Brunch raises money for the Oasis Youth Center, which supports LGBTQ+ young people across the South Sound.

Downtown also has a permanent marker. The city installed its first Pride crosswalk on Broadway between South 9th and South 11th streets and unveiled it at the start of Pride month.

Same-sex couples in the United States have had the nationwide right to marry for years. Washington State goes further with its own anti-discrimination law, which covers sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public services.