For the first time in Eugene’s 31 years of celebrating the local LGBTQ+ community, the Eugene Pride Festival will be fenced off and made safe for all participants at the Lane Events Center. After a hate group interrupted the event last year, the Pride Day Equality Project made the event ticketed and implemented a clear bag policy to make the festival a private event and aid in providing safety throughout the celebration. While the event is ticketed, organizers say they will ensure that nobody will be turned away who wants to participate. Usually thrown in the second weekend of August, the event was moved to the last weekend of June to celebrate the festival during Pride month. Last year, over 12,000 people attended the festival, growing exponentially every year since 2021, when Eugene was one of the only cities that hosted a Pride celebration despite the pandemic. This year, there are around 200 booths, a raffle and three stages scattered both inside and outside the fairgrounds that will showcase drag queens, musicians, comedians, dancers, poets, puppeteers and other performers. The event will also feature a kids zone, a clothing swap, gender affirming haircuts, a beer garden, a pet zone and a space where people can celebrate Pride while maintaining their sobriety and building support networks. Alex Holmes, a volunteer coordinator with Eugene Pride, says, “I’ve been to Prides up and down the West Coast, but I think Eugene Pride is unique in that we really do a really good job of making sure the whole community comes together in one space.” Holmes adds, “Eugene has this unique vibe of being open to everyone in the community, and I think that’s what makes us kind of one of the better prides on the West Coast.” Before the Pride festival starts, the Equality Rally will be held downtown at Kesey Square at 9 am, followed by a march to the Lane Events Center for the rest of the event. Once the family-friendly festivities come to a close, there will be a 21-plus afterparty. — Samantha Sobel

The Eugene Pride Festival is 11 am to 7 pm Saturday, June 28, at Lane Events Center, 796 West 13th Avenue. Admission is on a sliding scale from $1 to $20, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.