Tacoma Pride festival is back in person this year. ‘It’s just a big party’

Knocked off track by the coronavirus pandemic, one of Tacoma’s biggest cultural get-togethers will be back in person this year.

The 2022 Tacoma Pride festival will be held July 9. According to the news release, the festival will take place from noon to 6 p.m. The event will happen on Pacific Avenue and Court A from South 7th Street to South 9th Street, and east to Fireman’s Park.

The event is organized by the Rainbow Center, an organization that provides resources for the LGBTQ2SA community. The event gives people a chance to celebrate who they are, said Rainbow Center executive director Troy Christensen.

“Before 2020, Pride was one of the biggest celebrations in Tacoma, Pierce County, each year. I think we had 18,000 people come through in 2019 during the six-hour period, which is pretty phenomenal, and it’s just a big party. It’s happy all day, and people come to celebrate who they are or to celebrate the people they love,” Christensen told The News Tribune.

The festival will have numerous activities, from live performances to vendors booths.

“We will have main stage, where they will be able to hear live music, see live performers. They’ll be able to see their elected officials and hear them say how proud they are that Tacoma steps up with this festival. There will be probably over a hundred vendors … there will be food vendors and beer gardens and just loads and loads of people having fun,” Christensen said.

According to the news release from the Rainbow Center, the festival takes place in the beginning of July in order to give people a chance to celebrate Pride across the Puget Sound and not compete with Seattle Pride, which takes place in June.

Christensen expressed that it’s just as important to show Pride in Tacoma for the residents who live here.

“This is our city. We’re not Seattlites. We are Tacoma and Pierce County and we have a lot of LGBTQ people in pretty much every walk of life in Pierce County, and we have our own identity which is very separate from Seattle,” Christensen said.

For more information on Tacoma Pride festivities, visit tacomapride.org

This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.