Few cities the size of Portland have a more progressive and active GLBT community. Lesbians and gays in Portland tend to live and play all around the city, not in any particular concentrated neighborhood - it's a very socially and geographically integrated community.
Book rooms and compare rates on hotels in Portland during Gay Pride.
But come June, GLBT folks from all over the city and the surrounding region descend upon downtown Portland's scenic Tom McCall Waterfront Park to celebrate the Portland Gay Pride Festival, also sometimes referred to as Pride Northwest (the name of the organization that organizes it). This is a first-rate Pride event. This year the Portland Gay Pride festivities take place over the weekend of June 14 through June 16, 2013, with the festival now taking place over three full days.
Portland Gay Pride
Specifics on Pride Northwest 2013 will be posted here as the date of this event approaches. Here's a look back at last year's celebration:
There are two main events that make up Portland Pride (and quite a few events and parties, including the traditional Stark Street Block Party at Scandals gay bar related to Pride taking place the week before. The festival is on Friday (6 pm until 10 pm), Saturday (noon until 6 pm), and Sunday (noon until 6 pm), the Portland Gay Pride Waterfront Festival. Events include a bustling festival with plenty of entertainment and performances (featured artists this year include DJ Tony Moran, Nina Sky, Colton Ford, Kim English, Bobby Jo Valentine, and more), food and crafts vendors, and hobnobbing at grassy, tree-shaded Tom McCall Park, on the east edge of downtown, overlooking the beautiful Willamette River and the oft-photographed bridges that span it.
Additionally, on Sunday, the Portland Gay Pride Parade commences at 11:30 am, taking the same route it has for the past couple of years. The procession begins at Burnside and N.W. 13th Street, runs a few blocks east along the edge of the Pearl District before turning north up N.W. Broadway, then east along N.W. Davis Street through Old Town/Chinatown, and then turning south down along Naito Parkway, leading into Tom McCall Park. .
Portland Latino Gay Pride
Also take note that Portland's fast-growing GLBT Latino community hosts the very successful Portland Latino Gay Pride, held the following month, in July - the dates this year hadn't been formally announced as of this writing.
More on the Portland Gay Scene
Additionally, plenty of gay-popular restaurants, bars and clubs, hotels, and shops will be extra busy during this busy time, and catering heavily to LGBT visitors. Check local gay media, such as OutCity (a biannual gay travel magazine I edit, which covers all of the Pacific Northwest), PQ Monthly and Just Out, the city's GLBT newspapers, for details, and also check out the excellent GLBT section of the Travel Portland tourism office website.
