Skip to main content
Portland’s Pride Festival and Parade moved to July in an effort to avoid overlap with Juneteenth, the Delta Park Powwow and Father’s Day. (The Stonewall riots, the uprising that Pride recognizes, started June 28, 1969, so it’s always been a cusp observance.) The primary celebration is the weekend of July 15, but the LGBTQ+ community keeps the party going all summer. Pride Weekend 2023 hosts more block parties than last year, with dance nights and drag revues in nearly every neighborhood.
MULTIDAY EVENTS
Pride Festival
Tom McCall Waterfront Park, portlandpride.org. Noon Thursday-Friday, July 15-16. $10 suggested donation. All ages.
Scores of vendors and organizations assemble on the waterfront to celebrate LGBTQ+ love and pride while sharing recognition within the community. DJ Spinderella and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Kylie Sonique Love headline a bill of nearly 100 LGBTQ+ entertainers.
Drag-a-Thon
208 NW 3rd Ave., darcellexv.com, wildfang.com. Monday-Sunday, July 10-16. $10 for a 2-hour time slot. 21+.
Poison Waters, along with resident performers of Darcelle’s and a roster of local drag artists, attempt to break the world record for longest drag artist stage show with the help of celebrity hosts (tickets at Wild Fang’s website). But when emcees like Frankie Grande go home, Poison and the rest of Darcelle’s All-Stars will return to regular programming, including Sunday brunch.
Scandals Patio Party
Scandals, 1125 SW Harvey Milk St., scandalspdx.com. Friday-Saturday, July 14-16. $5 suggested donation. 21+.
Scandals’ annual block party has been postponed until September due to ongoing construction, but Portland’s “gay Cheers” will host a light version of its annual weekend rager all the same.
Stag’s Pride Block Party
Stag, 317 NW Broadway, https://www.stagportland.com/. 11 am Saturday-Sunday, July 15-16. $25-$50+. 21+.
Stag’s Pride Block Party lets hot bodies and cool drinks spill out into the adjacent parking lot. Saturday is devoted to trans and nonbinary dancers during Jay Colby’s Penthouse shows.
Ankeny Alley Pride Festival
Alleyway by Voodoo Doughnut, 22 SW 3rd Ave. 5 pm Friday, July 14-8 pm Sunday, July 16. Free. All ages.
Pride Northwest organizers coordinated with Ankeny Alley’s businesses, venues, entertainers and restaurants to be extra welcoming during Pride Weekend.
Lacefront
Sissy Bar, 1416 SE Morrison St., sissybarportland.com. 9 pm Friday-Sunday, June 14-16. $5. 21+.
T’Kara Campbell Starr hosts a charitable Pride weekend drag show of local talent. Sunday’s show features titleholders of the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court.
FRIDAY, JULY 14
Queerer Things Portland PRIDE – 80s Remix Dance Party
The Get Down, 615 SE Alder St., seetickets.us. 9 pm. $25-$40. 21+.
Linda Recessionista and Ty Givens transform the Melody Ballroom’s next-door neighbor into a nightmare realm right out of Stranger Things, with drag performances by Violet Hex and Asia Consent.
Gaylabration
Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., crystallballroompdx.com. 9 pm. $18-$80+. 21+.
Portland’s annual gay circuit party celebrates 20 years with a future rave theme.
BOYeurism
Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside St., bossanovaballroom.com. 9 pm. $25-$225. 21+.
Burlesque dancers Margo Mayhem and Broody Valentino headline Isaiah Esquire and Johnny Nuriel’s quarterly cabaret revue.
Switch
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., holocene.org. 9 pm. $10-$60. 21+.
Kevin Aviance, the legendary New York drag recording artist whose voice you’ve heard sampled by everyone from MikeQ to Beyoncé, headlines Holocene’s LGBTQ+ dance party.
SUNDAY, JULY 16
Pride Parade
Old Town, pridenw.org. 11 am. Free. All ages.
Make sure to get up early this Sunday if you can. The best views along Southwest Naito Parkway, the parade’s historic route, tend to fill up quickly as everyone wants a glimpse of the city’s favorite queer personalities and organizations (and allies) strutting their stuff.
Sea Sickening Boat pRide
1010 SW Naito Parkway, eventbrite.com. 2 pm. $55-$130. 21+.
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Mariah Paris Balenciaga and the Portland Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s Order of Benevolent Bliss are among the entertainment for the Portland Spirit’s three-hour tour of the Willamette River.
It’s Bolivia!
CC Slaughter’s, 219 NW Davis St., ccslaughterspdx.com. 7 pm. $10. 21+.
Bolivia Carmichaels is a treasure. Give her more money than she asks for, sit back and watch for her iconic impressions of redheaded royalty like Lucille Ball and Reba McEntire.
Lumbertwink
Jackie’s, 930 SE Sandy Blvd., eventbrite.com. 2 pm. $15-$40. 21+.
Gay bears and flannel enthusiasts take over Sandy sports bar Jackie’s and its rooftop patio for a night of dancing and shirtless fun.
Iridescent
The Get Down, 615 SE Alder St., seetickets.us. 9 pm. $25-$40. 21+.
Jayla Rose Sullivan, Lala Benét, Silhouette, Atlas, Katya and Linda Recessionista meld minds for a high-concept drag and dance party.
Twirl
World Famous Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick St., kentonclub.com. 3 pm. $15. 21+.
The cuties behind Twirl bust out the turntables and transform Kenton Club’s patio into a queer oasis for their monthly disco soirée.