Your Guide to Pride in Kansas
Whenever I talk to people about my home state, I always mention that Gilbert Baker, the artist who created the Rainbow Flag, was from Kansas. Born in Chanute and raised in Parsons, Baker was drafted into the army after high school and ended up in San Francisco. There, in 1978, the politician Harvey Milk asked him to make a symbol for gay pride and the rest is history. The Rainbow Flag is now an international emblem for LGBTQIA+ identities and inclusivity.
Other notable LGBTQIA+ Kansans include the current U.S. Congressional Representative for Kansas Sharice Davids, who is the first openly queer Native American woman elected to Congress; the pioneering Black actor Ruby Dandridge; long-time Kansas resident, musician, teacher, politician, and transgender activist Stephanie Byers, who was the first transgender Native American to serve as a Representative in the Kansas State Legislature; the 20th century playwright William Inge; the contemporary musician and actor Janelle Monáe; the visionary architect Bruce Goff; the transgender physician and writer Alan L. Hart; and Wendell Sayers, a gay rights activist and the first Black lawyer to work in the Office of the Colorado Attorney General.
Despite the recent legislation passed by the state house and senate designed to persecute transgender Kansans (notably, they overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s veto), queer and trans communities as well as their families, friends, and supporters persist and this year the state is filled to the brim with Pride fests.
Manhattan held its Little Apple Pride, including a festival, parade, and after hours party, on April 25, but most events in Kansas will take place in June — Pride Month in the U.S., which commemorates the Stonewall riots that took place in June 1969 and the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement. LGBTQIA+ History Month is in October, and some Kansas municipalities will host their Pride festivities then. Below is a full list of upcoming celebrations in 2026, most of which are free to attend. Whether you are part of the queer community or an ally, these events are for you!
2026 Pride Overview
| Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6 | Salina Pride Celebration |
|---|---|
| Saturday, June 6 | Atchison Pride FestivalCowley County PrideEl Dorado Pride FestivalLawrence Pride |
| Saturday, June 13 | Hays Pride |
| Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14 | McPherson County Pride |
| Sunday, June 14 | Leavenworth Family Pride |
| Saturday, June 20 | Garden City Pride FestPeople’s Pride ICT (Wichita)Pride Palooza Topeka |
| Sunday, June 21 | Emporia Pride |
| Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27 | Dodge City PrideFestWichita Pride Festival |
| Sunday, June 28 | Gardner Pride CelebrationHutchinson Homemade PrideNewton Pride |
| Saturday, October 3 | Pittsburg PrideFest |
| Saturday, October 10 | Johnson County Pride |
Detailed 2026 Pride Calendar
Friday, June 5 & Saturday, June 6
Salina Pride Celebration
June 5: Drag Show The Temple, 336 S. Santa Fe Ave. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., Show starts at 9 p.m.
June 6: Celebration The Temple, 336 S. Santa Fe Ave. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Organized by the Smoky Hill Equality Coalition, after North Central Kansas Pride organized a number of annual Pride events over the years, Salina’s Pride in 2026 will take place at The Temple, where the Marsha P. Johnson Garden is planted. On June 5, they will host a drag show for adults that is a benefit for Smoky Hill Equality. On June 6, there will be a full day of family-friendly events including a butterfly release, performances, a puppet show, resources, story time, and vendors.
Saturday, June 6
Atchison Pride Festival Servaes Brewing Company, Riverfront, 118 S. Second St. in Atchison 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Organized by The Artist Box LLC, an art and music studio, and Servaes Brewing Company — Riverfront, this all-ages festival will include art activities, food and drinks, games, and vendors.
Cowley County Pride Pride in the Park Island Park, 200 Main St. in Winfield 4-7 p.m.
Karaoke Ladybird Brewing, 523 Main St., Winfield 8-10 p.m.
Cowley County Pride started in 2019, and this year they are hosting a gathering in Winfield’s Island Park featuring face painting, food trucks, games, live music, a photo booth, and tabling with LGBTQIA+ resources. Afterward, Ladybird Brewing will sponsor an evening of karaoke.
El Dorado Pride Festival Pride in the Park East Park, 100 S. Woodland in El Dorado 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pride After Dark Club Vaudeville, 206 S. Main St. 8 p.m.-2 a.m.
Hosted by Equality El Dorado, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in the city, this will be El Dorado’s first Pride festival and will comprise a full day of events. Starting with Pilates at 9 a.m., the family-friendly Pride in the Park will have activities like art projects and a tug of war contest, community speakers and organizations, food trucks, live performances, and vendors. In the evening, Pride After Dark will take place at Club Vaudeville with drag performances beginning at 9 p.m.
Lawrence Pride Pride Parade and Block Party South Park, 1141 Massachusetts St. in Lawrence 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Pride After Dark The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. in Lawrence 8 p.m.-12 a.m.
Lawrence, notably the home of the only chapter of the Gay Liberation Front in Kansas, has organized an entire month of events in June to celebrate Pride and Lawrence Pride on June 6 is the biggest. The day will commence with a parade at 11 a.m. starting from the north end of Massachusetts Street and ending at South Park, where from noon to 8 p.m. there will be a free block party with acrobats, drag performers, food and drinks, a kids’ stage, live music, and vendors. Pride After Dark will begin at 8 p.m. at the Granada, with BDSM demos and a dungeon, dancing, and vendors. The organizers describe it as “the kinky queer rave of your dreams.”
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Saturday, June 13
Hays Pride Pride in the Park Frontier Park West, Highway 183 Bypass, West of Main Street in Hays noon-4 p.m.
Featuring food, games, and music, Pride in the Park is organized by Hays Pride, a nonprofit group focused on activism, advocacy, education, and community-building for LGBTQIA+ citizens and allies of Hays. They will also have a contingent in the Wild West Parade taking place on July 4, 10-11:30 a.m. on Main Street in downtown Hays.
Saturday, June 13 & Sunday, June 14
McPherson County Pride June 13: Pride Celebration Day 1 Wall Park, Middle Shelter, S. Park Ave. in McPherson 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
June 13: Cabaret Drag Show McPherson Opera House, 219 S. Main St. in McPherson 7-10 p.m.
June 14: Pride Celebration Day 2 First United Methodist Church, 1200 E. Kansas Ave. in McPherson 3-7 p.m.
Put together by the McPherson Social Outreach League for the sixth year in a row, McPherson County Pride has a robust program planned starting with a cabaret drag show on June 13th. On June 14, they will host a park gathering during the day, including food trucks, keynote speakers, a kids’ storytime, raffle prizes, and vendors. In the afternoon and evening there will be an indoor celebration with a market, tie-dying T-shirts, and the monthly installment of the League’s “Windows & Mirrors Queer Film Watch Party” starting at 5 p.m. The movie will be “1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture,” released in 2022.
Sunday, June 14
Leavenworth Family Pride Pride Picnic Hawthorn Park, 1100 Ohio St. in Leavenworth 1-3:30 p.m.
For their fourth annual celebration, Leavenworth Family Pride is hosting a picnic with free barbeque, a guest speaker, kids’ activities, music, a photo booth, and resource stations.
Saturday, June 20
Garden City Pride Fest Stevens Park, 502 N. Main St. in Garden City 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
The organization Better Together Garden City is coordinating the city’s fourth annual Pride Fest, which will take place in Stevens Park and feature food trucks, free all-ages activities, live music and performances, and a vendor market.
People’s Pride ICT (Wichita) Picnic and Drag Performances OJ Watson Park, Shelter 1, 3022 S. McLean Blvd. in Wichita 4-8 p.m.
Sober Kink Mixer Safe Streets Wichita, 1200 E. Waterman St. in Wichita 8-10 p.m.
This free DIY Pride celebration will include a self-catered family picnic with live music from 4 to 6 p.m., drag performances from 6 to 8 p.m., and a sober kink mixer from 8 to 10 p.m. for ages 18+. There will also be interactive community art projects and tabling with local organizations and resources. Masks are encouraged outside and required inside.
Pride Palooza Topeka Evergy Plaza, 630 S. Kansas Ave. in Topeka 6-10 p.m.
Home to the Equality House, Topeka holds their Pride Palooza each year, which is organized by the Topeka Pride nonprofit. Their 2026 event will feature arts and crafts vendors, drag performances and a drag story hour, food trucks, a live DJ, and a splash pad.
Sunday, June 21
Emporia Pride: Glitter & Groove Greenspace at 9th Ave. and Commercial St. in Emporia 4 p.m.: Parade 4:30-7 p.m.: Community Activities, Vendor Booths, and Musical Performers 7:30-9 p.m.: Drag Show
Organized by the group Queer Year Round, this year’s Emporia Pride will feature a parade, a festival with activities, live music, and vendors, and a drag show with headliner drag artist and designer Q, who starred on RuPaul’s Drag Race as well as Project Runway and hails from Emporia. The parade and festival are free to attend and tickets for the drag show can be purchased online.
Friday, June 26 & Saturday, June 27
Dodge City PrideFest: Queens of the Cowtown June 26: Drag Night El Torino’s Night Club, 110 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd. in Dodge City 10 p.m.-2 a.m.
June 27: PrideFest Wright Park Bandshell, 71 N. 2nd Ave. in Dodge City 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Brought to life by the Dodge City Pride Association, the Fifth Annual Dodge City PrideFest starts with an age 18+ evening of drag performances and music at El Torino’s Night Club and continues with an all-ages outdoor festival in the park with food trucks, performers, and vendors.
Wichita Pride Festival June 26: Pride Drag Pageant Century II Exhibition Hall, 225 W. Douglas Ave. in Wichita Registration at 4 p.m., Pageant at 7 p.m.
June 27: Pride Parade Starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Sedgwick County Courthouse, 525 N. Main St., and ending at Century II
June 27: Pride Festival Century II Exhibition Hall noon-4 p.m.
Wichita Pride is hosting a slew of events throughout the month of June, culminating in their Pride Weekend with an evening drag pageant followed by a mid-day Pride Parade from the Sedgwick County Courthouse to Century II, where the Pride Festival with community-driven actions, food and drinks, live entertainers, and a marketplace featuring local vendors will take place in the afternoon. You can find the full list of June festivities listed on their website.
Sunday, June 28
Gardner Pride Celebration: Pride Lives Here Pride Walk From Warren Place Venue, 136 E. Warren St., down Main Street to The Tumblewood Bar & Grill and back 10-11 a.m.
Pride Celebration Warren Place Venue, 136 E. Warren St. 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Sixth Annual Gardner Pride Celebration is family-friendly, starting with a Pride Walk down Main Street in Gardner, then returning to Warren Place Venue for a party with food trucks, performers, prize drawings, a silent auction, and vendors. Tickets are free but must be reserved for entry.
Hutchinson Homemade Pride Plaza Towers Ballroom, 125 E. 2nd Ave. 1-9 p.m.
Taking over for the Hutchinson Salt City Pride folks who put together festivals in the city for many years, the organization Queer and Trans Equality and Resilience (QTER) will mastermind this year’s event, which includes artists, drag performers, family-friendly activities, food trucks, live music, and vendors.
Newton Pride Popsicles in the Park + Picnic Athletic Park, 700 W. 1st St. in Newton 1-4 p.m.
Pride Karaoke Moxie Community Pub, 1420 Old Main St. in Newton 7-9 p.m.
In June 2025, Newton held their first ever Pride celebration, Popsicles in the Park, and this year the afternoon gathering is back with the addition of a community picnic. In the evening Moxie Community Pub will be taken over with Pride Karaoke. Congratulations to Newton Pride for continuing and expanding!
Saturday, October 3
Pittsburg PrideFest Details forthcoming
Each year the Pittsburg PrideFest hosts a variety of events, usually held at Lincoln Park. Watch their Facebook event for more details. In the meantime you can attend their Pancakes for Pride Fundraiser on June 6 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Andiamo and Co., located at 106 E. 9th St., Suite B, in Pittsburg
Saturday, October 10
Johnson County Pride in the Park Details forthcoming
Save the date for Johnson County Pride’s annual Pride in the Park, which usually takes place in the Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa. Follow the Johnson County Pride Facebook page for updated information as we get closer to October.
Genevieve Waller (she/her) is an artist, curator, and writer who was born in the heyday of disco and grew up in Wichita. She currently splits her time between Wichita and Denver, where she is the founder and editor of the art magazine DARIA: Denver Art Review, Inquiry, and Analysis. She is also a longtime college radio DJ, most recently on Radio 1190_in Boulder, Colorado._
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