Johnstown Pride

Johnstown Pride is a daylong celebration with live entertainment, vendors and family activities. The organization also holds the Miss Johnstown Pride Pageant.

Johnstown Pride began in 1999 as a response to open hostility toward LGBTQ+ people and gathering places in the region. In 1997 the Casa Nova Lounge, then the only openly gay bar in Somerset County, was attacked repeatedly, with rocks thrown through its windows and a shotgun blast through the entrance that injured patrons with flying glass. The first Pride created a visible public celebration where people could gather rather than disappear.

Over the following decades the community kept organizing, responding to protests around LGBTQ+ spaces such as Lucille's, raising concerns about how gay men were treated by local law enforcement, and pushing for nondiscrimination and hate-crimes protections. After an attack on Lucy's Place and disputes over public recognition of Pride, residents again showed up. In 2026, 27 years after the first event, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro issued a proclamation recognizing August 22 as Johnstown Pride.

The festival is presented by the Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter. In 2026 it moved to a new, larger venue, the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial. Admission is free, with food, merchandise and vendor purchases separate, and the day includes live performers, local vendors, community resources and dedicated activities for kids.

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.

Johnstown Pride has included festival and pageant.

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