South Bay Pride Arts and Music Festival

South Bay Pride is a nonprofit that has held an arts and music Pride festival in Chula Vista, historically at Bayside Park.

South Bay Pride's roots go back to 2002, when an informal group of about 200 new LGBTQ+ property and business owners and their families gathered at Heritage Park in Chula Vista to celebrate their growing community. That gathering became Gay Day in the South Bay, held yearly until 2006. The South Bay Alliance formed that fall at the urging of Mitch Doty-Cabrera, at a time when many assumed LGBTQ+ issues in San Diego existed only in Hillcrest.

The alliance revived Gay Day in the South Bay in 2007 and replaced it in 2008 with the South Bay Pride Music Festival, first held at Memorial Park. It became a 501(c)(3) in 2009, and in 2011 the festival added visual art and took its current name. Longtime leaders include Dae Elliott, Marci Bair and Craig Knudson.

The alliance builds a coalition for social networking, business promotion and political awareness in south San Diego County and northern Baja California. It hopes festival proceeds will help create a binational resource center for LGBTQ+ youth and older adults. Meanwhile it promotes HIV testing and treatment through the Live Well San Diego and Getting to Zero programs, runs quarterly LGBTQ 101 ally trainings and gives local businesses a free palm tree decal to show they are LGBTQ+ friendly.

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.

South Bay Pride Arts and Music Festival has included festival, music and art.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. It usually falls late summer.