Chicago Gay Pride

Gay Pride Chicago is a huge gay event taking place each year in Illinois' largest city and includes a weekend festival and Parade on Pride Sunday. However, Gay Pride Chicago is just one part of June Pride Month in the city. Historically, in the 1970's and 1980's, Pride events were concentrated during a week called 'Pride Week' in Chicago. Then Pride Week was expanded to 'Pride Month' in order to accommodate the abundance of events. Now there’s a whole 30 days of around 100 different social, cultural and sporting events that take place in different areas of the Chicago metro area. Expect workshops, dances, picnics, plays, film screenings and more!

The Chicago Pride Parade, also called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is held on the last Sunday of June. Chicago's Pride Parade is one of the largest, by attendance, in the world with 1,000,000+ people. The first parade was organized on June 27, 1970, as a march from Washington Square to the Water Tower, but then many of the participants spontaneously marched on to the Civic Center Plaza. For many years, the parade was held only in Lake View East. Recent parades have extended the route into the Uptown neighborhood.

The weekend before the Chicago Pride Parade in Boystown, the Chicago Pride Fest starts the celebration! The annual Chicago Pride Fest is a two-day street festival held the weekend leading up to the Chicago Pride Parade, celebrating LGBTQ life, culture and community. The festival features live music by popular artists, three stages, food and drink, 100+ arts/craft and merchant vendors, DJ’s and dancing, drag shows, a pet parade, sponsor booths and more at Halsted Street and Addison in Boystown, America’s first recognized gay village.

As the Chicago Pride Parade is held on the last Sunday in June, weather for the event is usually warm and dry, so there's no excuse not to get out your finest tee, and march with pride in this lively city of Illinois. So, have you penciled in Gay Pride Chicago to calendar yet? We sure hope so!  

For full details on Chicago Pride 2023 and all previous editions, be sure to check out the official event program. Happy Pride! 

Photos Gay Pride Chicago 2015 / 2016 © niXerKG, John W. Iwanski, nathanmac87 and Cheryl Adams - Flickr