Planning to celebrate Pride in Tacoma? Here’s what you should know
This year, members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies will have a chance to celebrate Tacoma Pride at a rooftop bar, art museum or zoo — all within the month of July.
The 2021 Tacoma Pride Festival will include a mix of in-person and virtual events. To further celebrate and honor Pride, more than 100 local businesses and organizations are participating in Points of Pride.
Through Points of Pride, businesses and organizations can host pride-related activities that might include giveaways or food and drink specials, said Troy Christensen, executive director of The Rainbow Center.
“Points of Pride (is) a way for … businesses and organizations in the city to recognize Pride but to do it in a safe manner,” said Marshall Samuela, celebration manager of The Rainbow Center.
Alma Mater Tacoma, Tacoma Art Museum as well as Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium are a few of the entities participating in Points of Pride. A full list of participants can be found on the Pride festival website.
There also will be a virtual Pride parade on July 10. The parade will consist of videos exhibiting the importance of Pride from entities participating in Points of Pride or community partners. The grand marshal for the parade is Pierce City Council member Ryan Mello.
Christensen said he is expecting more than 500 attendees to attend this year’s festival, which is a “big jump” from last year’s.
The Pride festival usually attracts between 15,000 to 20,000 attendees. But that changed last year when the COVID-19 pandemic put things in a “screeching halt,” Christensen said.
Although Washington state recently reopened and is gradually moving away from COVID-19 restrictions, Christensen said it was too late for the center to plan a huge street festival with live entertainment.
Samuela said one of the things he wanted to make sure of is that there will be events catering not only to adults but all ages.
“There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of things that I have to keep track of, but it’s also rewarding to be able to offer these events to people,” Samuela said.
The Rainbow Center started hosting the Pride festival a little over a decade ago, Christensen said. Before, the festival was called “Out in the Park” until it was rebranded to its current name.
