Oklahoma City’s LGBTQ Pride is not messing around this year after many setbacks.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the street enhancements have been blocking pride from taking place in the Gayborhood since 2019. Sound familiar? The same happened in Dallas but they moved it to the fair at a different time.
OKC Pride on 39th organizers hope this year’s event will be one of the biggest ever. The three-day Pride festival runs from noon to midnight Sept. 24-26. The LGBTQ parade at 4 p.m. Sept. 26.
The Equality Concert kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday on the main stage with drag performers and talent from the various local gay bars. Headliner Todrick Hall is set to take the stage at 11 p.m. Hall gained popularity after making it to the semi-finals on American Idol and creating viral Youtube videos. He has also appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race as a choreographer and judge and starred in Broadway’s Kinky Boots.
The main stage will be on 39th Street in between Tramps and The Boom facing east. There will be another stage in the Angle’s parking lot along with a full bar and several food trucks along the back. Local drag performers, bands, and DJs make up the entertainment throughout the three days. There will also be a kid’s zone in the parking lot of the Diversity Center.
The parade along 39th Street starts at 4 p.m. Sunday on Classen Blvd. and ends at Youngs Blvd. This year’s parade grand marshals are Donnie Wilson and Miss Diamond Sameek Neal.
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District Hotel
The District Hotel in Oklahoma City’s 39th District previously called Habana Inn features a new nightclub and improved rooms. They will be hosting pool parties with DJ’s and bartenders.
The hotel’s nightclub, The Living Room, previously called The Copa, was one of the first areas of the hotel to get a facelift. They will also be doing hosting parties all weekend long.
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Murals everywhere!
OKC Pride will be taking many COVID precautions. All of the committee members, all of the volunteers will be COVID vaccinated. They are urging everyone to wear a mask and strongly urging everyone who attends to be vaccinated but cannot enforce mandates.
OKC Pride Inc. has been collaborating with the Oklahoma City-County Department of Health, which will be at the event providing HIV and COVID-19 testing, and offering free COVID-19 vaccines from 1-5pm on Saturday. Vendor booths will also be spaced according to proper social distancing guidelines. The event’s COVID-19 rules will be posted throughout the festival.
“There’s No Place Like Home: Respecting Our Past, Welcoming Our Future” is this year’s theme. This will be the district’s 33rd annual Pride event and the first transgender president of Pride ever. Tessa White, OKC Pride Inc. president, hopes attendees will feel a similar sense of affirmation when they attend Pride.
For more information about Pride on 39th, visit prideon39th.com.
New Things to do in OKC
The First Americans Museum- visitors to the museum can experience the collective histories of 39 distinctive First American Nations in Oklahoma today. Learn more and plan your visit at famok.org.
The State Fair of Oklahoma is also underway and if you have not checked out the riverwalk and Scissortail park make sure to check it all out!
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