According to Nick West, Eugene Pride’s president and event coordinator, “Pride shouldn’t only be accessible to organizations with big pocketbooks.” He says 2026 Eugene Pride Festival gave out more than 50 discounted or free spaces to smaller vendors. The festival is bigger than ever with queer choirs, comedians, more than 250 vendors, including nonprofits and community organizations, local businesses, artists and crafters and more than 20 food vendors.
Pride begins 9 am Saturday, June 27, with a downtown rally in Kesey Square featuring speakers from the community. After the rally, participants will march to the Lane Events Center, where the festival runs from 11 am to 7 pm.
Entertainment will include performances from local drag queens The Glamazons, a routine from Bounce Gymnastics, dancers, theater troupes, poets, comedians and queer choirs. The main stage is located in the event center’s performance hall, the community stage in the exhibit hall and a DJ stage in the food court that is also designated for karaoke and trivia.
At 6 pm, the Eugene Pride’s second annual afterparty will begin on site. Local queer DJ Enriquedamnit headlines.
Queer Choir will be the first performance of the day on the main stage. Elias Wolf, a singer-songwriter and the artistic director and conductor of the choir, says Queer Choir will be singing mostly covers, including songs by queer musician Sam Smith.
Wolf also programs the choir’s original songs and songs by indie artists such as Laura Jane Grace, a trans-femme punk artist, queer singer-songwriter Be Steadwell and Carsie Blanton, a Eugene-based artist.
Wolf enjoys performing at Pride because it brings the queer community together. “Pride Fest is so special because you get so many of us in one place,” Wolf says. “You really get to witness people fully expressing their queerness without any kind of apology.”
In addition to Queer Choir, the Eugene Gay Men’s Choir and the Soromundi Lesbian Chorus will be singing at Eugene Pride. “It’s always really, really special to see the other LGBTQ choirs that are in Eugene,” Wolf says.
Queer Choir will also be performing an all ages Pride Kickoff show and dance party at WOW Hall on Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm with queer acapella group Homophonic and DJ and drag artist DJ Lyta Blunt.
Local comedian and current SLUG queen Jen Jay, aka Hilaria Gastrognome, will be performing a comedy set at Pride. Jay is also on Eugene Pride’s entertainment committee and books performers for the festival.
Jay describes her comedy as relatable. “I like to write jokes that are smart, weird comedy about grief and bodies and relationships and subcultures and strange little rituals that make people human,” she says.
Jay wants attendees to experience joy through her comedy. “We need joy, we need laughter,” she says. “Being able to connect with the community and share a laugh, I am very excited to do that.”
In addition to entertainment from local performers, the festival will include what West dubs a “regulation station,” where people can go to relax during the lively festival, and a sober circle with recovery nonprofits.
Numerous local nonprofits will have booths, such as Queer Eugene, which will be organizing a clothing exchange, HIV Alliance, which will be conducting free HIV testing, Transponder and more.
To encourage alternative forms of transportation, LTD provides free bus passes to the Lane Events Center the day of the festival through a code on its website. There will also be a free bike valet for those that choose to bike to Pride.
West emphasizes that the Pride Festival couldn’t happen without the work of volunteers. The festival is volunteer run, and more volunteers are currently needed to help out on the day of the festival. The volunteer application is open on Eugene Pride’s website, and closes two days before the festival begins.
The Eugene Pride Festival is an all ages event open to everyone. “Who’s welcome here? Anybody,” West says. “We want everyone to feel welcome.”
Eugene Pride is Saturday, June 27. The Pride Rally starts at 9 am at Kesey Square, 10 East Broadway, and the Pride Festival begins at 11 am at the Lane Events Center, 796 West 13th Avenue. The Eugene Pride Festival goes until 7 pm with an onsite afterparty that starts at 6 pm. Tickets start at $1 and are available at EugenePride.org/festival-26.