Soldotna Pride in the Park

Soldotna Pride in the Park is a Kenai Peninsula Pride festival that began in 2019 alongside a Two-Spirit Pride March. Participants have walked about 1.7 miles to the festival site.

Soldotna Pride is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to affirm, support and celebrate the queer community of the central Kenai Peninsula. It grew from a 2018 march started by a youth suicide prevention worker at the local tribal government as an affirming activity for young people. The LGBT Alliance at Kenai Peninsula College joined, and about 75 people walked from the Soldotna Sports Center to Soldotna Creek Park.

In 2019 the second Two-Spirit Pride March drew more than 150 people and launched the first Soldotna Pride in the Park festival, with 20 vendors, local musicians, youth dance groups, drag queens, face painting, a potluck and contests with prizes from local businesses, including one called So You Want to Be a Drag Queen.

Pride events were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, as organizers did not want to put an already underserved community at greater risk. In 2021 community enthusiasm brought back a socially distanced, outdoor march that ended with a group photo on the park lawn.

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.

Soldotna Pride in the Park has included festival, march and two-spirit pride march.

Soldotna Pride in the Park was first held in 2019.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. The 2026 edition was cancelled. It usually falls early June.