Baton Rouge Pride Fest

Baton Rouge Pride Fest is an indoor festival held at the Raising Cane's River Center downtown. It features vendors, drag and music performances, health services such as HIV testing, and programming for all ages. It is produced by Baton Rouge Pride, a nonprofit that also runs a local LGBTQ+ business directory.

Baton Rouge Pride was founded in 2006 to give the area's LGBTQ+ community a place to gather and celebrate, built around a community resource fair with educational programming. The first festival followed in 2007. Organizers say it has since become the largest Pride in Louisiana, drawing thousands of visitors and dozens of resource fair participants to what they call the largest indoor, family-friendly Pride in the South.

The festival still mixes information on community resources and health counseling with family activities and local artists and performers, and it has stayed free to attend thanks to sponsors and volunteers. Baton Rouge Pride Inc. is a Louisiana nonprofit and 501(c)(3) public charity that serves as the parent organization for the festival and for year-round entertainment, education, history programs and recognition of performers and community leaders. Its stated purpose is to build unity among LGBTQ+ people and allies in South Louisiana.

The work depends on hundreds of volunteers, from year-round officers and board members to people who help for a few hours with setup. Tom Merrill, one of the founders, chaired the organization from 2006 through 2016. Christopher Bradford then served as co-chair with John Deshotel before becoming sole chair.

Pride events celebrate LGBTQ+ people and mark the Stonewall uprising of June 1969. Most combine a parade or march with a festival of performers, community groups, vendors and food.

Baton Rouge Pride Fest has included festival, vendors and health services.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held June 27, 2026. It usually falls last Saturday of June.