Newport PrideFest

Newport Pride holds a month of June events that begins with a flag raising and sidewalk parade from Equality Park to City Hall. The main day features a parade through downtown Newport followed by an afternoon festival at the Great Friends Meeting House with live music, local vendors, artists, drag performances, and food trucks. A 21+ drag bingo closes the weekend.

Newport Pride has served LGBTQ+ people on Aquidneck Island since 2017. Beyond the June festival and parade, it runs the Newport Pride Center at 42 Spring Street downtown, open several afternoons a week and Saturday mornings, with street parking and a lot behind the building. On Fridays the center hosts LGBTQ+ domestic violence support with the Women's Resource Center.

Visitors to the center can use an LGBTQ+ lending library and a table of local resources, pick up free toiletries and clothing, drop off materials for the LGBTQ+ archive in Providence and view images from the Pride: In Retrospect gallery. The group also keeps a list of Rhode Island resources covering health, testing, groups and programs.

Recurring programs include Queer Connections, a monthly evening of crafts and friendship; Self InQueery, a free yoga and meditation class twice a month; Queers and Crafts, a guided craft with a potluck lunch; and the Last Friday Social. It also offers workshops through the year, gender-affirming voice lessons and a Trans Joy Celebration for the Transgender Day of Visibility. Vendor, performer and volunteer sign-ups for the festival open each spring.

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.

Newport PrideFest has included parade, festival, flag raising and drag bingo.

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