Central Alabama Pride

Central Alabama Pride is Birmingham's Pride organization, run by an all-volunteer board. Its Pride Week spans the first two weeks of June and ends with the Pride in the Magic City Parade in the Lakeview District and PrideFest at Linn Park in downtown Birmingham. The group also stages pageants and a Pride Idol competition.

Pride in Birmingham dates back to Day in the Park, the city's first organized Pride celebration, held on June 24, 1979. The parade followed in 1989 and has become a Mardi Gras-style night parade. During the 2000s the celebration expanded to several days, the parade moved to Saturday night, and pageants and town hall meetings joined the schedule. Central Alabama Pride, Inc. is a 501(c)(3), and it reports drawing more than 20,000 people a year.

PrideFest is free and outdoors, with food, live music and headline entertainment, and it caps a series of events lasting more than 10 days. Parade lineup forms at 7th Avenue and 32nd Street, with participating groups checking in starting at 4 p.m. and the parade stepping off at 8 p.m. or dark.

The events also support local HIV and AIDS service organizations, including Birmingham AIDS Outreach, AIDS Alabama, and the Magic City Wellness Center and Acceptance Center. In recent years the group has formed alliances with Pride organizations in Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Troy, Huntsville, Montgomery and Mobile to build a stronger statewide presence.

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.

Central Alabama Pride has included parade, festival, drag brunch, pageants and pride idol.

The next edition is June 12, 2027. It usually falls first two weeks of June, ending with a parade and PrideFest weekend.