OKLAHOMA CITY – Every year, Scissortail Park comes alive with drag performances, an art market, wellness events, and so much more for the annual PrideFest, celebrating 2SLGBTQIA+ identity and resilience.
The festival kicked off Friday, June 26, and continues through the weekend with the theme “Community in Bloom.”
The festival continues Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Oklahoma Pride Alliance Vice President/President-Elect Apryl Awbry said the theme was inspired by the quote “they tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.”
“We really do feel like we are building a foundation in Oklahoma for the Queer community to live and thrive and get the resources that they need and have the support they need to live out the lives that we all deserve in Oklahoma,” Awbry told Free Press.
Performances with Pride
PrideFest launched with a full evening of performances across the Love is Love stage and the Pride stage.
Friday began with a drag hour hosted by Busty Springfield and Sage Chanell, followed by local band Foam, Latin Pride, and another drag hour hosted by Lola.
Friday’s performances also included a variety of performers with the Two-Spirit Festival, highlighting Indigenous performers.
Headlining singer, dancer, and performer Tacey took the stage later that night.
One stand-out performance from the night was from headlining singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun, whose music spans folk, R&B, rock, and pop.
With the festival continuing through Saturday, the lineup brings performances from Leona Lyons, Jo James, Diva, Muffled Sirens, Pontese Miguel, and more, plus programming for all ages. Saturday morning includes a Pride yoga flow, dance, burlesque, a fitness class, sound bath, and a self-defense workshop, part of the Pride Alliance’s continuing mission toward wellness.
Drag artists D’Angelo and Virtue Ali host the annual Drag Brunch at Noon on Saturday, as opposed to its usual Sunday slot after the parade. Another drag hour follows at 3 p.m. followed by more musical acts and two more drag performances that night until Saturday night’s headliners of Oklahoma folk musician and producer Samantha Crain and Bob the Drag Queen, known for her iconic sense of humor on Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Centering Community
PrideFest 2026 continues the grassroots “Pride by the People” campaign, launched by the Oklahoma Pride Alliance last year, which funds not only the festival, but year-round programming. The campaign is focused on community funding with a goal of $100,000 and had raised over $6,700 from supporters by the end of opening night. Funds support Pride Alliance’s mission of education and advocacy as an all volunteer-run organization.
“One thing that we always keep in mind is that it’s not just a festival,” Awbry told Free Press. “It’s truly life-saving care when you have a safe space to celebrate, to be yourself and show up 100% authentically.”
To support the campaign, some attendees purchased VIP packages, available at various levels. A three-day “Platinum Pass” includes unlimited drinks, local meals, shaded seating, exclusive views, and special perks, while a general pass offers lounge access, daily drink tickets, food, and shade, and single-day options provide similar benefits. Awbry said PrideFest attendees can even purchase single-day passes throughout the festival weekend.
Custom PrideFest 2026 merchandise is available from local screenprinters Shop Good, with those purchases also going toward the fundraising goal.
“We raise the dollars for this event 100% from scratch every year,” Awbry said about the Pride by the People campaign. “Being completely volunteer-run, we run into a lot of difficulty just trying to find those funds to put this festival on and keep it free and accessible for everyone, so we really try to make sure everyone knows that it’s only possible with the support of our community.”
Friday’s Pride festivities included the Artist Avenue, a low-barrier, community-focused marketplace featuring 2SLGBTQIA+ creators sharing original art, crafts, and apparel. Participating artists include Michelle McChristian, Asher Smith, and many more.
Friday also began the festival’s Vendor Marketplace, which is open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. This is where local artists, craftspeople, and small businesses showcase handmade goods and services with everything from house plants to barbeque sauce and healthcare to face painting.
Saturday brings the return of the Community Zone, a dedicated space for local nonprofits, health services, advocacy groups, and faith communities to connect with attendees. Open Saturday from Noon to 5 p.m., participants include Shred the Stigma, ACLU of Oklahoma, and more.
The Youth Zone, open Saturday at the Event Pavilion, offers crafts like face painting, tutu making, a scavenger hunt, and friendship bracelet creation from 1 to 3 p.m. and the annual “Lip Sync for the Crown” competition at 3 p.m.
The Parade
PrideFest wraps up Sunday, June 28, beginning with the annual Pride Parade at 11 a.m. and followed by one last performance from OKC Ballet before the closing ceremonies.
The parade’s float design was inspired by this year’s “Community in Bloom” theme with a flower-forward design. In keeping with that sentiment, the floats at this year’s parade are centered around amplifying community voices with intentional priority of grassroots organizations.
“These days, building community is almost its own form of resistance and its own form of joy,” Parade Chair Stephen Fitzsimmons said about the theme. Yes, so the float is gonna be that theme, so the theme is obviously community and the message I think is mostly about, you know, how community these days building community is almost its own form of like resistance and its own form of like joy, because everything’s trying to destroy our community and tear it apart, stuff like that, so that has really impacted the parade, because that’s going to be the theme of our float, so expect a wonderful flower, lush green, beautiful styled float from the in the parade this year.
The parade route runs down Walker Avenue from Couch Drive, turns east on Oklahoma City Boulevard, and ends at South Robinson Avenue.
The procession lasts about an hour and typically draws large crowds. Fitzsimmons said the parade committee has been hard at work for months, saying “it’s a labor of love.”
The parade live-steam will be emceed by drag performers Olivia Lycan and Indya Naaomi from the “Queen Versus” podcast.
This year’s grand marshals are CJ Garcia, immigrant rights organizer and movement strategist and Sarah Adams, Indigenous Rights Advocate and co-creator of Matriarch and Cousins.
“It’s really important that we have these people as our grand marshals, because, in this year’s parade, we’re really trying to convey the message that, while everyone is trying to take Pride away from us, it is so important to feature these organizations doing year-round work around marginalized communities,” Fitzsimmons said.
This year’s PrideFest, while already in full swing, still features many opportunities for performances, community events, and, of course, the highly-anticipated parade. The Pride Alliance team is partnering with Prism Security for festival safety, and all attendees are encouraged to stay safe in the heat by hydrating with free water, wearing sun protection, and using festival cooling stations.
For more, including full festival and parade details, visit okpridealliance.org/pridefest.
Zoe Elrod covers events and happenings around Oklahoma City for Free Press bringing her skill as a reporter and photographer. Zoe has spent her career covering local musicians, artists, politicians, and everyday folks.
