Fun Activity Ideas to Make your Pride Event a Success

Love is love is love. Now say that five times fast (it’s easy). Now say it all year ‘round. Now say it especially loudly, because it’s Pride Month! 🎉🎉🎉

Beyond the rainbow decor, fabulous events, and much-anticipated parades, it’s important to keep the heart and soul of the movement alive. Pride is about authentically representing and supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s about recognizing the ongoing struggle for equality and validity. It’s about safety and political activism and commemorating those that have come before us.

Pride is also a celebration!

Full of parties, drag performances, parades, live theater and more.

For those wondering, “How do you show Pride?”, “What can I do for Pride?” or, the all important, “How do you throw a Pride party?” we’ve put together a list of fun ideas you can use to celebrate this month, either at work, school, or with friends and family.

Pride Month is observed around the world to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots - protests in New York led by queer people of color to protest against LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer - or sometimes questioning, intersex, asexual, allies and others) discrimination.

In the years since, it’s evolved to become both a commemoration of those historic events and a celebration of those who continue to fight for LGBTQIA+ rights.

Pride is celebrated all June long, with many parades closing out the end of the month. Why June? June was chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. It’s important to honor those who advocated for the community before us.

That said, Pride can, and should, be celebrated throughout the year. It’s always a good time to toast to our authentic selves!

Racking your brain for Pride event ideas for work? Pride event ideas that genuinely honor the community? Pride event ideas that don’t take months on months to plan (consider parades struck from our list)? Give these activities a try:

1. Host a petite Pride parade

We know what we just said, but hear us out. Parades are synonymous with Pride, and for good reason - they are a joyful celebration of history and community. While you may make plans to tune in to a parade virtually, or even attend in person, we can bet you probably aren’t planning one yourself.

Whether you’re hosting a parade viewing party, pre-party, or looking for a way to bring the festivities to work or school, bring some parade components into your own celebration: Assign everyone float themes and have them dress accordingly, have everyone decorate their desks in honor of Pride and take a tour during the office happy hour, hire a local queer band or artist for a performance…scale the parade down and see how many fun ideas come up.

2. Lean into the theme with event decor

Make it rain rainbows! Not temporary rainbow logos on social media profiles, we don’t stand for rainbow-washing from companies looking to make a profit. Celebrate rainbows as the icon of diversity and inclusion they have grown to become. Include different flags to represent bisexuality, demisexuality, asexuality, transgender, intersex, and more. Here’s a helpful resource on LGBTQIA+ flags.

3. Support queer businesses

This one is important! Put your money where your mouth is. Support for the community should go beyond just the colors of your decor. Order your catering, decor, DJ services, etc. from queer-owned local businesses.

4. Pride-themed arts and crafts

Invite your guests to express their true colors with a Pride-themed art attack! Provide art supplies in all colors of the rainbow (keep in mind all the different flags that represent the LGBTQIA+ community), come up with a theme like Love is love, or Representation Matters, and have everyone create art that reflects what that means to them.

5. LGBTQIA+ film festival

Shine the spotlight on the diverse talent to be found in the film industry by screening work from groundbreaking actors, writers, and directors. Here’s a great list of the best LGBTQIA+ films of all time from Harper’s Bazaar to get started. Encourage your event attendees to recommend movies to watch so everyone gets involved.

6. Celebrate with a diverse playlist

Bringing people together is one of the things music does best. Start a playlist featuring queer artists, icons and anthems, and share it so everyone at work or on the guest list can add their own favorites. Get the party started with Prince, ABBA, Diana Ross, and even modern-day icons like Lil Nas X, Sam Smith, and Frank Ocean.

7. Give support where it’s needed

Incorporating fundraising into your event is a great way to feel good and have fun. Look for nonprofit organizations that serve LGBTQIA+ communities (especially youth and aging groups), or that work toward equity for queer folks. If you’re putting this event on for your workplace, inquire about your company matching donations or making a corporate contribution. Be sure to ask ahead of time about benefits and tax deductions.

After the bells and whistles of Pride events have stopped and the pomp and circumstance of the parade is over, how can allies and queer folk alike further the movement and continue to support LGBTQIA+ communities?

Get informed

Know what and why you’re celebrating. There’s plenty to be grateful for these days, as the fight for equality has come a long way, but the struggle is still ongoing. This video from the History Channel sums up Pride history in under four minutes. If you’re unsure where to start on your journey to getting informed, four minutes is a good option.

Donate your time and/or resources

Consider making regular donations or physically volunteering with organizations that serve LGBTQIA+ communities and their rights.

Here are some organizations to look into:

1. Gay Men’s Health Crisis
2. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
3. The Trevor Project
4. Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network
5. LGBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
6. Transgender Law Center
7. Pride Foundation
8. OutRight Action International
9. Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Create safe spaces

Create safe spaces - at work and in your other communities - for people to be their true selves. Add your pronouns to your email signature, LinkedIn profile, and as part of your introductions to help everyone feel comfortable sharing theirs. When speaking specifically about LGBTQIA+ topics, avoid spotlighting folks to share about their experiences unless they volunteer to - despite all your good intentions, this can make some people uncomfortable!

Support queer creators and voices

Diversify who you see on your screens or whose words you read! So much can be learned from others’ experiences, and it’s important to see life through other perspectives. Here’s some suggested reading from Goodreads.

There is so much joy to be had in celebrating Pride, especially when you have the fight for equality at heart. Try incorporating at least a few of the above ideas for Pride Month into your June celebrations, and we hope you save a few to keep the momentum going all year.

Happy Pride! 🌈