Kristen Fiore
Audio By Carbonatix
Last year, Westword offered a list of alternative Pride Month events to the traditional Denver Pride festival for those feeling burned out by police presence, problematic corporate sponsors and a disorganized water situation in the heat of June. It inspired a variety of responses, including a column by the Center on Colfax’s new CEO, Kim Salvaggio.
“Change is part of who we all are,” Salvaggio wrote. “We are on this road to change together.” And Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community will reach a destination this June with a thoughtfully reorganized Denver Pride that includes a new location, logo and a month of events to activate the city.
The festival that is attended by around 550,000 people annually has historically taken place at Civic Center Park, but this year, that will not be possible because of park construction. On Monday, March 2, The Center on Colfax announced that this year’s festival will take place along 16th Street, from Arapahoe to Broadway. Formerly known as the 16th Street Mall, the area relaunched last year after its own glow-up.
Kristen Fiore
New Denver Pride Events
Although Denver PrideFest typically lasts an entire weekend, this year it will only be one day: Sunday, June 28. However, new events will pop up around the city during the month of June, including doggy drag show Mutt Strutt on June 6, a Pride hike on June 14, a cookout on June 19, an opening party on June 26, a brunch after the Pride 5K on June 27, and a music festival on June 27.
The music festival, in partnership with PlayHaus and with support from Live Nation, will be at the Junkyard, and acts will be announced soon, according to Salvaggio.
The Pride 5K will start and end at Cheesman Park, and the Vizzy Denver Pride Parade on June 28 will step off from Franklin Street and East 17th Avenue and conclude at Lincoln and 17th.
Kristen Fiore
The Center on Colfax
The Center on Colfax, which organizes the event, is a nonprofit organization that offers free resources such as mental health therapy, support groups, community-building events and more to the LGBTQ+ community. Denver Pride, now more than fifty years old, is the main fundraiser for The Center, and 84 percent of the proceeds from the festival go back to supporting The Center’s programming, according to Salvaggio.
And that need is growing. “In 2024, we had 23,000 check-ins for people needing services,” Saalvaggio said at a March 2 press conference. “Our latest data is telling us that that went up to 25,000 people in 2025.”
Denver Pride is one of the biggest Pride festivals in the country, and it’s also the only one of its size to be put on by the local community center, Salvaggio added. “Other ones across the country do an amazing job, and their services and funding go far, but it’s usually two separate organizations that are running services for the community and the pride celebrations and protests. We are the only ones that our staff of about twenty people, with an enormous amount of volunteers, does both.”
Salvaggio added that the goal is to raise $2.4 million or more this year.
Denver Pride Sponsors Now Vetted
How that money is raised through sponsorships looks a little different this year. After many people protested the festival due to “rainbow capitalism” and problematic sponsors, Salvaggio and the team at The Center created a system to vet sponsors to ensure that “values align.”
“I cannot accept money from any organization that is causing harm to our community, and I cannot take money from any organization that is contributing to violence or warfare at home or abroad,” Salvaggio said. “Let’s be really clear. I will not take money from any sponsor that is engaged in any type of funding warfare.”
So far, no potential sponsorships have been “problematic,” she added. “I think I’ve been kind of vocal, so people maybe expected this when I became the CEO.”
Potential sponsorships must pass a 40-point rubric. Those that fall below 26 points go through a committee that will look at where the organization has historically stood, and if they’ve been involved in supporting any violence.
Rainbow Capitalism Turned Into Activism
Salvaggio also responded to concerns about “Rainbow Capitalism,” when businesses and corporations performatively celebrate Pride Month to gain profit.
“We all exist within the current realities of capitalism,” Salvaggio said. “At Denver Pride, we leverage that system to be able to take the dollars of capitalism and to fuel it into activism for our community. We have to be able to operate year-round. We’re seeing an increased growth of our LGBTQ community coming to Denver.”
She referenced anti-LGBTQ legislation, including a new law in Kansas that has revoked hundreds of trans people’s driver’s licenses.
“We know that, especially our trans community, is not going to be safe in 26 states in this country,” Salvaggio said. “It is incredibly important that we continue to raise the funds so we can welcome everyone who is going to be here.”
Kristen Fiore
Efforts to Be More Inclusive
And that includes a special effort to reach out to BIPOC individuals.
“Denver Pride has not been inclusive for our community,” said Terwanda McMoore, community groups coordinator at The Center. “With that, this is the opportunity for us to build a bridge that was never built, which it should have, but now we are building that bridge. We are starting to recognize that we have to reach out more to our community, and that includes our BIPOC community.”
McMoore has been doing that through Love Vibes events, which have included drag shows, burlesque performances, live music, open mics twice a month at The Pearl and BIPOC dinners.
“The first dinner we had, even some of our staff members were overwhelmed by the fact that this is the most BIPOC individuals we’ve had in the building at once,” McMoore said. “While that was joyful, it was also alarming, and that’s something we need to start changing. At that dinner, they were expressing that The Center has had a reputation of not welcoming BIPOC individuals. There are a lot of organizations that don’t even want to work with The Center because of the past, and a lot of individuals who were fearful about coming in.”
Salvaggio added that she has spent the past year making an effort to reach out to people who have protested Pride in the past.
“They really did not feel heard previously, and it was in direct response to our programming that may not have reflected all lived experiences in the LGBTQ community,” she said. “There were protests over some organizations that we were accepting money from. …And a lot of the people who have protested us have come to the table with me and given me a free education about things I may not have known, about other lived identities and how to be more inclusive. They’ve given me their time, and we’re in a place of trust.”
Protests, Police, Water and ICE
And Salvaggio said that protests are welcome at Pride, because Pride is a protest. People can protest other human rights-related issues, such as the genocide happening in Palestine, as long as it’s not rooted in violence or dehumanization.
Salvaggio also addressed other safety concerns, such as police being present at Pride.
“Safety does not look the same to everyone, and this is where we have to be open to understanding what safety is going to look like,” she said. “We do partner with Denver Police Department. As most people know, you cannot pull a permit for a festival of this size without working in conjunction with the police department.”
She added that DPD has an LGBTQ task force, police will not march in uniform, and on-duty officers will be clearly identifiable. Private security will also be employed at the event, “because police do not feel safe to everyone in our community,” Salvaggio said. “I do hope someday that is changed. We’re not there yet, but we are on a path to get there.”
Meanwhile, the DPD and The Center are in agreement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not welcome at Denver Pride.
“We are monitoring ICE activity, and we are preparing for however that situation develops in June,” Salvaggio said. “Since we hold the permit for 16th Street on our free festival day, we have the ability to say, ‘No ICE at Pride.’”
Finally, Salvaggio emphasized that due to dehydration concerns and lack of water in the past, sealed water bottles will be allowed into the event — it’s just reusable water bottles that aren’t allowed. Water will also be available at the event.
Harmful Politics
The Center’s team hopes that Denver Pride will become a national model — in a nation that is not currently very LGBTQ-friendly.
Current legislation in dozens of states targets trans students, bans gender-affirming care, and takes away rights. Salvaggio wants Denver Pride to be a national anchor.
“We are seeing a lot more people coming to Denver and Colorado that are needing to come to us as almost a sanctuary state,” she said. “If you are in a state where you are not seen and heard, know that we see you and want to care for you here.”
And if there’s a year to come to Denver Pride, this is it, she added. “It’s not just for folks in Colorado,” Salvaggio said. “We need to be a beacon right now. There are so many folks in states that are feeling hopeless, scared, lost and under attack that they cannot live there. We need to be a beacon this year more than ever.”
Denver PrideFest 2026 starts at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 28, at 16th Street, and runs from Broadway to Arapahoe. Other Pride events will activate the city during the month of June. Learn more and stay up to date with announcements here. Learn more about The Center on Colfax, 1301 East Colfax Avenue, here.
