Magic Pride Festival

Magic Pride Festival is Madison's main Pride festival, organized by the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center at Warner Park. It features a stage show with local LGBTQ+ performers, a large vendor area, games and activities for youth and families, and food.

The festival is run by the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center, which describes itself as the current keeper of a Pride tradition in Madison that goes back decades. The event runs on a Sunday afternoon at Warner Park, and questions go to OutReach directly.

Its name comes from the MAGIC Picnic, started by the late Rodney Scheel, who owned the Hotel Washington nightclub complex that was lost to fire in 1996. MAGIC stood for Madison Area Gay Interim Committee, a group formed partly in response to Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign. The picnic was long held in July at Brittingham Park and was tied to a gay volleyball tournament held in Madison the same weekend.

Madison's march tradition began separately. After attending the 1987 national march in Washington, residents Pam Jacobson and Tim O'Brien formed the Madison Pride March Committee, which took the name GALVAnize, the Gay and Lesbian Visibility Alliance. It held marches in 1989 and 1991, drawing roughly 7,500 and 5,000 people.

Festival rules ask for a peaceful event with no weapons, glass or carry-in alcohol. Leashed, licensed dogs are allowed, and beer buyers must be 21 with ID and a wristband. A QTPOC Tent serves as a community space for queer and trans people of color and their guests.

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.

Magic Pride Festival has included stage show, vendors, youth and family activities and food.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held August 16, 2026. It usually falls mid-August (Sunday).