Utah Pride Festival

The Utah Pride Festival is the statewide Pride celebration in Salt Lake City, run by the Utah Pride Center. The festival weekend takes place at Washington Square with performers, exhibitors, food vendors, and family programming. A rally and march starts at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday, and the Utah Pride Parade moves through downtown on Sunday morning.

The Utah Pride Center traces the start of Utah Pride to a Human Rights Convention in Salt Lake City in June 1977, where Gay Mormons United, now Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families and Friends, was founded. The next year's convention featured David Kopay, the first NFL player to come out, and Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich. Gay and lesbian groups had organized privately in Utah for decades before that, and in 1974 a local tavern owner hosted a gathering on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.

Utah Pride is the center's largest event, and all of its profits go to the affirming services the center provides statewide throughout the year. Those include daily programs for youth, families, adults and seniors, mental health services, suicide prevention, social and support groups, and training and education. The festival includes multiple stages, music, food, vendors, marches, rallies and a youth Pride area.

The center also presents the Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award, originally called the Utah Pride Community Service Award, and invites homes, businesses and organizations to decorate their spaces for Pride. Its stated values are unity, empowerment and celebration across all races, ages, abilities, faiths, incomes and backgrounds.

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.

Utah Pride Festival has included parade, festival, rally and march, youth events and interfaith service.

Utah Pride Festival was first held in 1977. Organizers reported about 100,000 people in 2018.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held June 5-7, 2026. It usually falls first weekend of June.