Pride Month is celebrated every year during the month of June to honour the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, which was a true turning point in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights. The first ever pride parade marked the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots and was a protest for LGBTQIA+ rights, rather than a traditional parade.
Pride month is more than just parades and rainbow flags. It's a powerful reminder of those that paved the way for LGBTQIA+ acceptance, allowing us to celebrate inclusivity.
In honour of pride month, it is the perfect opportunity to host a vibrant range of events in celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, from charity fun runs to unforgettable parties. If you're hosting a pride event for the first time or looking to make your celebration even bigger this year, here are 15 Pride Month event ideas to help you bring people together and create a celebration your community will remember.
Why host a Pride Month event?
Hosting a Pride Month event is a powerful way to support LGBTQIA+ rights, celebrate diversity, and create lasting memories. Pride events provide a safe space where people within the community can feel seen, supported and celebrated while bringing together allies, activists and local organisations.
From large public celebrations to smaller community gatherings, Pride events are about creating joyful and welcoming experiences for everyone involved.
Create your own march
All the big cities have their own parades and marches, but that doesn't mean you can't create your own! Organising a local Pride march or parade brings people together and shows solidarity within your town.
Get your local community involved, invite local dance groups and organisations to show their support. Encourage participants to dress up in rainbow clothes or create their own placards and banners to celebrate Pride.
This is a brilliant way to bring your community together and make the LGBTQIA+ community visible in your hometown, whether people are marching together or cheering on from the sidelines!
Planning Tip: If your march uses public roads, it's worth thinking about insurance and safety planning too. Our event protection guide covers what you'll need to have in place.
Picnic in the park
Pride falls right at the beginning of summer, so take advantage of the weather and celebrate outdoors.
A Pride picnic in the park creates a relaxed atmosphere and a safe space where people within the community and allies can connect, enjoy great food and celebrate together. It's easy to organise and tailor to your needs. A local LGBTQIA+ musician performing an acoustic set adds a welcoming, lively atmosphere.
Drag show
Drag shows are a popular pride event all year round for a reason. They bring together bold personalities, community and high-energy live entertainment for an unforgettable experience.
Guests can enjoy drag performances from local drag artists, creating an inclusive and uplifting atmosphere for all.
By hosting a drag show, you are also supporting local talent and giving performers the opportunity to shine! Make it a bigger night by adding themed drinks too and of course, don't forget to tip your drag kings, queens and things!
LGBTQIA+ fashion show
Get all the family involved and host a fashion show in support of pride month. Themes could include rainbow fashion, LGBTQIA+ icons or pride-inspired designs.
It's a natural fit for spotlighting and collaborating with local designers, artists and performers within the LGBTQIA+ community. Participants could either design garments for the runway or volunteer to model them during the event.
Fashion shows are a fun way to celebrate identity, creativity, self-expression and support emerging designers.
Charity walk or 5k Fun Run
A Pride themed walk or a 5k run brings people together while raising money for LGBTQIA+ charities or organisations.
Participants can walk, run or jog the course while showing their support for the community. Encourage participants to wear rainbow colours or themed costumes to make the event even more fun and exciting!
Take inspiration from other popular charity runs, you could make your event a colour run or even add different lanes, such as a 'disco lane' to brighten the runners' spirits.
Planning Tip: With two free mobile apps you can manage ticket sales and streamline check-in on the day with TryBooking. If your route uses public roads or paths, you'll want public liability insurance in place. Our event protection guide has the detail on what cover you need and what it costs.
Pride book club
Book clubs offer a thoughtful way to celebrate Pride Month. This can be a one-off event or could be the start of a monthly club meet up! To host a book club event, choose a book that is either written by a queer author or a title which focuses on LGBTQIA+ themes and experiences.
It's a chance to introduce readers who may not be part of the community to books they may have never picked up otherwise.
You can add to this event by creating pride themed bookmarks as an extra activity within your book club.
LGBTQIA+ film screenings
Host a film screening to celebrate pride on the big screen. Whether it's a well-loved classic, a modern LGBTQIA+ hit or even a documentary, there's no shortage of films to share.
For something bigger, organise a mini-Pride film festival featuring several films across a weekend, highlighting a range of queer stories and filmmakers. Open a call-out for filmmakers to submit their own short films to be showcased.
If you're hiring a venue for the screening, our guide to running an event covers venue selection, licensing and on-the-day logistics.
Planning Tip: Offering advance ticket bookings online can help you manage seating capacity and understand attendance numbers ahead of time. You can sell tickets on the day with a mobile Box Office app too.
LGBTQIA+ exhibitions
Celebrate creatives during pride by partnering with local artists, historians or community groups to create an exhibition celebrating LGBTQIA+ history, art and culture.
Arrange a call out for members of the community to submit their pieces to exhibit. This could include showcasing photography, historical displays, personal stories or artwork that reflects the experiences of the community.
To make the exhibition more interactive, add panel talks, guided tours or workshops alongside the displays.
Paint with Pride
A fun, simple and age friendly event you can host during pride month is a creative workshop. A 'Paint with Pride' event could include activities such as painting or customising personal pride flags, creating banners for local Pride events or crafting rainbow-themed collages. Bonus points if you invite a local LGBTQIA+ artist to lead the workshop!
It's also a safe space for the community to express themselves artistically, without judgement.
Pride trivia night
A trivia night that spotlights pride month is a fun way to celebrate LGBTQIA+ history, culture, music and iconic figures.
Teams can compete to answer questions about everything from Pride milestones to famous queer musicians and films. It's a fun way to get everyone involved and test their knowledge, and you could even get a local drag queen, king or thing to host.
Planning Tip: Use an event ticketing platform for online bookings to easily manage team registrations and keep track of attendance for quiz nights and social events.
Drag queen bingo
Similar to drag shows, a lively way to host an event during pride month is to host a Drag Queen Bingo Night. This is an energetic version of bingo that combines the game with a live drag show. Expect high-energy lip-sync performances and interactive games! Donate all proceeds to charity and reward bingo winners with prizes to make sure the night gives back to the community.
Bring community members and allies together to raise funds for pride month in a fun and lively way.
Inclusion workshops
Educational workshop events during pride month play an important role in raising awareness for the LGBTQIA+ community. These workshops can focus on a variety of topics such as gender affirming language, best practices in your industry or LGBTQIA+ fundamentals.
Make sure to bring in guest speakers who specialise in these subjects to make the workshops even more impactful. You can also offer these workshops virtually for better accessibility.
Dance party
Sometimes the best way to celebrate is simply to dance. Host a Pride-themed dance party featuring LGBTQIA+ DJs, performers and music that celebrates queer culture. Encourage guests to dress up as their favourite LGBTQIA+ icons or wear their brightest outfits.
Pride parties can create a safe, welcoming space for those who may not feel comfortable in mainstream venues. They bring energy and excitement to your celebrations, while giving everyone a space to express themselves.
If your venue doesn't have a premises licence, you may need a temporary event notice to serve alcohol or play amplified music late into the evening. Our guide to running an event explains how these work.
LGBTQIA+ business networking
Host a networking event for LGBTQIA+ professionals, entrepreneurs and allies to connect, share resources and build partnerships.
It's a chance to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices in the business world and support queer business owners.
Planning Tip: TryBooking allows you to manage sign-ups, track attendance and collect useful insights about your event guests. Use custom form questions to ask about dietary requirements or business names to help you better plan for your event.
Pride karaoke night
End the night on a high note with a Pride karaoke party.
Guests can sing along to iconic queer anthems from artists like Elton John, Freddie Mercury and Lady Gaga. You could even host a friendly competition with prizes for the best performances.
Karaoke events are light-hearted, fun for all and guaranteed to bring plenty of laughs.
Make Your Pride Event Easier to Organise
Planning a Pride event involves a lot of moving parts, from managing registrations to tracking attendance and communicating with guests. Using an online ticketing platform can take much of the stress out of organising, giving you more time to focus on creating a celebration people will remember.
Ready to Plan Your Pride Event?
However you choose to celebrate, the best Pride events are the ones that bring people together and make everyone feel welcome. Start with one idea, keep it simple, and build from there.
If you want to set up ticketing or registrations for your Pride event, create a free account on TryBooking. Free events cost nothing to list, and if you need a hand getting started, our team is always happy to help. Drop us an email or give us a call on 0333 344 3477.
