After two years of celebrating Pride in the summer, Long Beach’s second-largest citywide event — the Pride festival and parade — will be held this weekend, returning to its May roots.
The 41st annual event includes a day-long festival on both Saturday and Sunday, with music, food, health care services and family entertainment at Rainbow Lagoon. The parade on Sunday morning will include more than 130 local organizations, grand marshals, dancing, costumes, music and more.
Here’s everything you need to know, including road closures along the parade route.
Teen Pride
The weekend will kick off Friday night with a free Teen Pride gathering at Rainbow Lagoon from 4 to 9 p.m. The event includes drag shows, DJs, vendors, booths, food and more.
Festival
The festival is from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, at Rainbow Lagoon, 386 E. Shoreline Drive.
General ticket admission is $40 each day, or $125 each day for a VIP ticket that includes luxury restrooms, an “elevated” bar experience, a lounge area with shade and a “chill” zone. For tickets, click here.
Musical entertainment will include country, hip-hop and dance stages, including headliner Ivy Queen (Sunday) and Saucy Santana (Saturday), along with Valentina (Sunday), Reyna Roberts (Saturday) and more. Jewels, Long Beach’s best-known drag queen, will also make an appearance both days.
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Attendees are encouraged to use public transportation, but there is public parking along Shoreline Drive and public garages near the Aquarium, Marina Green and Shoreline Village.
For a complete list of entertainment and a festival map — as well as guidelines on what to bring and what not to bring — click here.
Parade
The main event is Sunday’s parade from 10 a.m. to noon down Ocean Boulevard between Lindero and Alamitos avenues. This year’s theme is Rhythm and Rainbows.
The parade will be led by a number of grand marshalls, including past board members of Long Beach Pride, Celebrity Grand Marshal Saucy Santana, Media Grand Marshal Annabelle Sedano of NBC4 and Enrique Chiabra of Telemundo 52; Marilyn Barlow Grand Marshal, Irene “DJ Irene” Guiterrez; Robert Crow Grand Marshal, Robert Cano; Judith Doyle Grand Marshal, Dykes on Bikes; Bryan “Whitey” Littlefield Community Bridge Building Grand Marshal, Evan Braude; “Morris Knight” Political Grand Marshal, Stuart Milk (Harvey Milk Foundation); and Dr. Robert Garcia Youth Grand Marshal, Kelly Melvin.
Road closures
If you live, work or have business Downtown on Sunday, be aware of road closures until 2 p.m. to accommodate the parade:
There will be no parking from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on:
- Ocean Boulevard from Redondo to Atlantic avenues.
- Immediate side streets on the north and south sides of Ocean Boulevard from Redondo to Atlantic avenues.
The following streets will be closed to vehicle traffic during designated times from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
- 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Ocean Boulevard between Redondo and Lindero, including side streets on the north and south side of Ocean Boulevard.
- 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Shoreline Drive between Ocean Boulevard and Shoreline Village Drive.
- 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Ocean Boulevard between Lindero and Atlantic, including all side streets on the north and south side of Ocean Boulevard.
- 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Alamitos Avenue between Ocean Boulevard and Broadway.
How to watch
If you can’t attend in person, NBC4 and Telemundo 52 are broadcasting Sunday’s parade. Audiences can tune in to special coverage on parade day on nbcla.com, telemundo52.com, on the free NBCLA and Telemundo 52 mobile apps and on the stations’ free local news streaming channels NBC Los Angeles News, Telemundo Noticias California.