Bloomington PRIDEfest

Bloomington PRIDE is a nonprofit serving LGBTQ+ people in Bloomington and South Central Indiana through advocacy, outreach and cultural events. Its annual PRIDEfest is a downtown street festival with vendors and community groups.

Bloomington PRIDE began with film. The PRIDE Film Festival was founded in 2003 by two Indiana University arts administration graduate students in partnership with the historic Buskirk-Chumley Theater, which ran it each year until Bloomington PRIDE incorporated as a standalone 501(c)(3) in May 2013.

The summer festival started as Summerfest, launched by Nicci B and Smoove, co-owners of The Back Door, and it was Bloomington's first outdoor event celebrating LGBTQ+ community and culture. Early editions featured live bands, poetry, drag, panel discussions and workshops. Attendance grew from a few hundred to a few thousand over three years, the festival moved to Kirkwood Avenue, and it was later renamed Pridefest in the same year the group held its first PrideSlam poetry competition.

The organization is entirely volunteer-run and governed by a five-member working board. Its other programs include the Prism Youth Community, the Rainbow Elders network for older LGBTQ+ people in Monroe County, and the Trans and Allies Support Community, a peer-facilitated group for transgender and nonbinary people. It also hosts monthly workshops and social gatherings.

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.

Bloomington PRIDEfest has included festival and vendors.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held August 22, 2026. It usually falls late August.