Ithaca Pride Festival 2026
United We Rise
June 12th - 14th, 2026
Multiple Locations in Downtown Ithaca
A Celebration of Our Queer Community
Welcome to Ithaca Pride Festival 2026, the centerpiece event of the Ithaca Pride Alliance.
Ithaca’s annual three-day festival is a place to play, learn, connect and celebrate with LGBTQ+ community. From vibrant performances to connecting with local businesses, resources, and one another, there is something for everyone over three days of events, music, resource fairs, concerts, family & kids activities, and more! Honor queer history, and make new memories. We can’t do it without you!
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Main Events Schedule
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6pm-1am | The Noctural Cafe
Amplify your pride and perform for your community. Our third annual Rainbow Fest hosted by Ithaca Underground features electric performances that showcase the diverse bands and performers from our region. Come for the music, stay for the shared energy of a rock show showcasing our queer talent!
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3pm-10pm on The Commons
3-4pm Access Hour (no amplified sound)We begin by celebrating by moving our bodies on the dance floor! Join us for an All-Ages Dance Party that invites kids and adults and everyone in our community to celebrate together. Expect guest speakers, a DJ and light show, and fun community activities.
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10am-6pm at Dewitt Park & Cayuga St.
10am - Noon: Access Hours (no amplified sound)Ithaca’s full-day festival will be held on Sunday, June 14th and is the centerpiece of a weekend-long celebration of inclusivity and belonging for our community. This year we are expanding the footprint of Pride so get ready for the biggest celebration yet!
Performance Stage: Drag artists and musicians, and family-friend story time and other entertainment
Community Hub: Expect shopping from local artistic vendors, information from organizations supporting LGBTQ+ resources and advocacy, and promotions from local queer-owned and queer-supporting businesses!
Family & Youth: Activities designed to ensure families of all structures feel a deep sense of belonging.
Connection: Pride is a place to meet neighbors and friends, and gain old friends and new.
One festival. Three days of fantastic events.
Check back here regularly for updates on vendors, performances, accessibility information, and other details as plans for the Festival come together.
Your festival. 100% powered by volunteers.
Get involved with Pride!
Ithaca Pride is 100% run by volunteers! We’re looking for friendly faces, creative decorators, logistics pros, and family-zone helpers to make this year’s festival unforgettable.
All volunteers receive a free t-shirt, and those working on Saturday Opening Ceremony & Dance Party, and Sunday during Ithaca Pride Community Festival will receive food & drink vouchers from our sponsors.
Most shifts are 2.5hrs long, and you can swap, cancel or change shifts up until the week of Pride. Be sure to check out our general volunteer page, too!
Psst: Looking for training materials for this year’s Pride volunteers? You can access your training materials with the password provided when you signed up here.
Pride Guide 2026
Thank you to our sponsors, volunteers, and local designer, Mickie Quinn, for making helping make this year’s printed Pride Guide come to life! Pick up your copy at our sponsors and supporting organizations around town, or at any Pride event.
RainbowFest Rock Concert
Friday June 12th, 2026
Doors 6pm, Performances 7pm-1am
The Nocturnal Café
Hosted by Ithaca Underground, Rainbow Fest is an all-ages queer rock concert that brings together musicians, drag performers, & visual artists from across the community and beyond to celebrate LGBTQIA+ identities, culture, and community. Drag and musical performances will be held all night long - get ready to party!
$10 no-fee advance tickets | $15 day-of-show
Check here or the Ithaca Underground website for ticket sales, likely to open ~2 weeks before the show
This is an all-ages show. All proceeds go directly to the performers and musicians!
Accessibility Information
Opening Ceremony & All-Ages Dance Party
Saturday, June 13th, 2026, 3pm - 10pm
Access Hour 3 - 4pm | Bernie Milton Pavilion
We kick off the weekend with guest speakers, community tabling (see list below), a DJ and light show, and fun community activities! We’ll officially open the weekend with a welcome speech from our Grand Marshal and Pride Festival Director (as well as short remarks by local legislators and other key LGBTQ figures), followed by an All-Ages Dance Party to shake, boogie, and celebrate the meaning of Pride!
Event Schedule
3:00 - 4:00pm Access Hour (see below for details)
4:00 - 6:00pm Entertainment at the Bernie Milton Pavilion
4:00 - 5:00 pm Singing Resistance Ithaca
Local chapter of the national Singing Resistance movement, a mass chorus of community members who gather to sing at protests, rallies, and vigils. “We sing not only for the world we want to create, but to create that world right here.”5:00 - 6:00 pm DJ Heathen Sinford
6:00 - 7:00pm Opening Ceremony
7:00 - 10:00pm All Ages Dance Party Hosted by Skarlet Killz with DJ CyberBump
Community resource tabling and kids & family activities, as well as Pride merchandise sales, will be available throughout the event.
Accessibility Information
Access hour is 3:00 - 4:00pm with no amplified sound, no stage lights, and masking encouraged.
The Bernie Milton Pavilion is located on the Ithaca Commons and is wheelchair accessible. Handicap parking is available on the street and in nearby parking garages. An accessibility coordinator will be available on the day of the event to help with specific needs. Expect moderately loud amplified sound and moderate crowds after access hours end. Wheelchair-accessible porta-potties will be open for the duration of the event. See more accessibility information in the FAQs.
Meet the 2026 Grand Marshall: Luca Maurer
Executive Director for Student Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Ithaca College
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Luca is a scholar practitioner who serves as Executive Director for Student Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Ithaca College. He has worked across the United States and abroad with students and teachers, families and caregivers, faith communities, workplaces, and professionals in education, social services, healthcare, law enforcement, and more. His research interests include diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, LGBTQ themes, intersectionality, global health, disability, and interactive learning tools for teaching about often erased community histories.
His multidisciplinary collaborations with students and colleagues are wide-ranging and have earned awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the American College Personnel Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Historical Association. He is also the first adjunct to receive Ithaca College’s highest academic honor, the Faculty Excellence Award.
He has written a variety of books, journal articles, chapters, and curricula, including the Teaching Transgender Toolkit, an award-winning book about the lives and experiences of transgender people. The book was featured in the pages of National Geographic and USA Today.
Luca has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in sociology, and was the founding director of The Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Education, Outreach, and Services at Ithaca College.
During the 1990s he was a founder of New York State’s first transgender rights organization, and of Ithaca’s first peer-led trans support group. As an advocate and activist and as a learner and a teacher, Luca brings his thoughtful, vocal, and unapologetic commitment to lift up rights, respect, access, and opportunities for people who are often left out, left behind, or erased.
Luca Maurer, 2026 Ithaca Pride Festival Grand Marshall
Community Tabling Resources on Saturday
🏳️🌈 Ithaca Pride in the Park : 🏳️🌈
Community Festival
Ithaca’s full-day festival is the centerpiece of a weekend-long celebration of inclusivity and belonging for our community. This year, we are expanding the footprint of Pride, so get ready for the biggest celebration yet! Enjoy 70+ food, artist, and community vendors, all-day kid and family activities, two stages with performances, vibrant community offerings such as yoga and drag story hour, a casual and fun “youth parade,” resources for LGBTQ+ services and families in Tompkins County, and so much more!
Event Schedule
10:00 am -12:00 pm: Access Hours (see below for details), all are welcome
10:00 am - 6:00 pm: Dewitt Park & N. Cayuga St. open with performances, food, vendors & activities
3:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Second stage of performances begins at Bernie Milton Pavilion
6:00 pm: The park and street activities at Dewitt & N. Cayuga close, tabling closes across event
8:00 pm: Guests can continue to enjoy entertainment at the Bernie Milton Pavilion until the second stage closes at 8:00pm
Accessibility
Access hours are from 10am - Noon, with no amplified sound, no stage lights, and masking encouraged.
Handicap parking is available on the street and in nearby parking garages. An accessibility coordinator will be available on the day of the event to help with specific needs - look for contact information posted at the Ithaca Pride Alliance information tent. Expect moderately loud amplified sound and moderate crowds after access hours end. Wheelchair-accessible porta-potties will be open for the duration of the event.
See more accessibility details for this event in our FAQs.
Performance & Activities Schedule
Drag artists, musicians, and family-friendly story time and other entertainment will be spread across two stages this year - one near Dewitt Park on N. Cayuga St. with performances from Noon - 6pm, and a second series at Bernie Milton Pavilion starting later in the afternoon and wrapping up at 8pm.
Dewitt Park (Noon-6pm)
All Day: Family & Children Activities Booth
Dewitt Park Tables
Look for a brightly colored tent featuring affirmation station, and other hands-on fun activities for kids & families! If you need help finding the location stop by the main information tent.10:00 - 10:45am: Yoga in the Park
Dewitt Park Lawn
Enjoy an hour of all-levels yoga outside with local instructors! All ages and experience levels welcome - please bring your own yoga mat or towel. No registration necessary. Please arrive at least 10 minutes early to set up and get settled.11:00 - 12:00pm: Drag Story Hour
Dewitt Park Stage
Enjoy an all-ages storybook hour, especially for children, by some of our local drag artists! Drag Story Hour will take place at the Dewitt Park Stage - stick around for an informal “youth parade” at Noon for a half block loop down N. Cayuga.12:00 - 1:00pm: DJ Spirit Posse
Dewitt Park Stage1:15 - 2:15pm: Transpose: Ithaca Queer Singers Alliance
Dewitt Park Stage2:30 -3:30pm: Drag Show: Hosted by Tilia Cordata featuring many local artists!
Dewitt Park Stage3:45 - 4:10pm The FMs
Dewitt Park Stage4:20 - 5:00pm: Mirage Belly Dance
Dewitt Park Stage5:15 - 6:00pm: CC-13
Dewitt Park Stage
Performances at Bernie Milton (3pm-8pm)
3:00 - 3:30pm: GIAC Jumpers
3:30 - 4:00pm: Southside Panthers
4:15 - 4:45pm: KarleeCrow Band
5:00 - 5:30pm: TBD
5:45 - 6:30pm: Mars the Star Child
6:45 - 8:00pm: Closing Drag Show: Hosted by Tilia Cordata featuring many local artists!
Sunday June 14th 2026, 10am - 8pm
Access Hours: 10am - Noon | Dewitt Park, N. Cayuga St. and Bernie Milton
Festival Vendors
These artists and shops will be open across the Festival for you to browse, shop, and support!
Auntie Social Designs
Rachel Feirman - Nature Inspired Art
Festival Community Resource Tabling
Local organizations & initiatives will have tables at the Sunday Pride Festival
Festival Food Options
Thank you to our food & beverage participants for helping us stay hydrated & fed!
Pride in the Park Festival Map
2026 Main Event Locations:
Dewitt Park (Stage, Vending, Activities, Performances)
N. Cayuga St. (Vendors, Tabling, Crafts, Food)
The Commons (Exhibitors, Merchandise)
Bernie Milton Stage (Performances)
Buffalo St. Books (Air-conditioned decompression space & nursing station)
Expect shopping from 70+ local artistic vendors, information from organizations supporting LGBTQ+ resources and advocacy, and promotions from local queer-owned and queer-supporting businesses!
We’ve expanded down the entire block of N. Cayuga St. from Dewitt Park to the Commons this year, so get ready for more resources, local businesses, and artists!
Event Accessibility FAQs
RainbowFest
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Unfortunately, this event is not accessible to wheelchair and other mobility device users. The venue entry is a staircase without a ramp available.(The Nocturnal Cafe; neé Sacred Roots)
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There will not be ASL interpreters at this event.
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TCAT line 30 is available across the street at the Seneca and Tioga station.
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ADA-accessible parking on the street and at local parking garages.
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There is not an ADA accessible bathroom at this event.
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Limited seating is available in the venue. We will reserve some seating for individuals with mobility issues
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Yes, service animals can be present in the venue.
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While parents who nurse are welcome to do so anywhere on Pride event grounds, there is not a dedicated space at this event.
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Yes, this is a substance-free event. Please note we will have a designated smoking area outside.
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We will have volunteer staff available to provide basic services as well as to contact emergency response if needed and direct first responders to anyone in need.
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Yes, all IPA-run events will have a designated day-of contact for accessibility concerns and questions. Contact information will be posted in person and online a few days before the event.
For questions prior to posting the event-specific contact please email contact@ithacapridealliace.org.
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Yes, the Nocturnal Cafe will provide water to event guests.
Opening Ceremony
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Access hours will have no amplified sound and will encourage masking. If you do not have your own masks we can provide you with some. The goal for these hours is to provide a lower stimulation and more COVID conscious environment for festival goers.
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This event is hosted at the Bernie Milton Pavillion which is entirely paved with cement including ramps and curb cuts.
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Yes, we have contracted with a service to provide 2 ASL interpreters for the duration of the event. They will interpret all remarks from the stage, as well as performances.
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TCAT line 30 is available across the street at the Seneca and Tioga station.
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ADA-accessible parking on the street and at local parking garages.
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An ADA-accessible portable toilet will be present at the opening ceremony and dance party.
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Limited seating is available in the form of stone-topped retaining walls. We will provide limited seating reserved for accessibility in front of the stage. The opening ceremony will last about an hour to be immediately followed by the 3-hour dance party.
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Yes! This event is being held outdoors and welcomes service animals.
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While parents who nurse are welcome to do so anywhere on Pride event grounds, there is not a dedicated space at this event.
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Yes, this is a substance-free event. Please note that smoking and vaping is not allowed on the Ithaca Commons. Alcoholic beverages are also not permitted on the Commons.
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We will have volunteer staff available to provide basic services as well as to contact emergency response if needed and direct first responders to anyone in need.
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Yes, all IPA-run events will have a designated day-of contact for accessibility concerns and questions. Contact information will be posted in person and online a few days before the event.
For questions prior to posting the event-specific contact please email contact@ithacapridealliace.org.
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Yes, we will have drinking water coolers available at the IPA tent.
Pride in the Park
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Access hours will have no amplified sound and will encourage masking. If you do not have your own masks we can provide you with some. The goal for these hours is to provide a lower stimulation and more COVID conscious environment for festival goers.
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This event is hosted at the Dewitt Park which is partially paved in cement including ramps and curb cuts. The event extends to the 100, 200 & 300 blocks of Cayuga Street and the Ithaca Commons, which is entirely paved in cement including ramps and curb cuts.
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Yes, we have contracted with a service to provide ASL interpreters at both stages for the duration of the event. They will interpret all remarks from the stage, as well as performances.
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TCAT line 30 is available across the street at the Seneca and Tioga station.
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ADA-accessible parking on the street and at local parking garages. The festival runs down the 200 & 300 blocks of Cayuga street ending at Dewitt Park.
Parking is free on Sunday in downtown Ithaca!
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Portable toilets are located near the parking lot for the First Baptist Church in Dewitt Park, the south end of the closed 200 block of Cayuga Street as well as near the Bernie Milton Pavilion.
Each location will have 1 ADA toilet and several standard toilets, as well as hand washing stations located near the toilets.
Additionally bathrooms can be accessed at the First Baptist Church from 1:00 - 6:00. The bathroom key can also be requested from staff in the Dewitt Mall.
If an accessible bathroom in Dewitt mall is required it can be requested from Moosewood.
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Limited seating is available in the form of stone-topped retaining walls at Dewitt Park and Bernie Milton Pavilion, as well as benches in the Park and the Commons.e will provide limited seating reserved for accessibility in front of both stages.
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Yes! This event is being held outdoors and welcomes service animals.
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Yes! While parents who nurse are welcome to do so anywhere on Pride event grounds, there is also a dedicated space at this event.
We have a decompression space in Buffalo St. Books that will have a room divider available for use for nursing parents wanting more privacy and air conditioning.
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Yes, this is a substance-free event. Please note we will have a designated smoking area at the edge of the event.
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We will have volunteer staff available to provide basic services as well as to contact emergency response if needed and direct first responders to anyone in need.
-
Yes, all IPA-run events will have a designated day-of contact for accessibility concerns and questions. Contact information will be posted in person and online a few days before the event.
For questions prior to posting the event-specific contact please email contact@ithacapridealliace.org.
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Yes, we will have drinking water coolers available at the IPA tent.
Get your 2026 Pride Gear
Show off your pride all year long! This year’s design contest winner Bethany Parisi designed an image to fit our theme “United We Rise” that you can show off on t-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, or totes!
Purchase on-site at any of the main Pride events
$25 t-shirts
$20 tank tops & totes
$50 sweatshirts
T-shirts, tank tops, totes and sweatshirts will be available in light beige and an assortment of additional colors pending stock available
New! Bring Your Own Item
You will also have the option this year to bring an item to screenprint with the design to Pride! The screenprint design will be in just one size, so plan for about the 8.5 × 11 available space on your item. Image works best on lighter fabric and must be on flat cloth (e.g. no hats or textured materials).
$15 flat fee to bring your own item for screen printing on site
This service will be available during the Saturday Opening Ceremony and the Sunday Community Pride Festival
Thank you to our merchandise supporter Sunny Days of Ithaca ☀️
Pride Silent Auction
Bid for local gift certificates, goodies, and more.
This year’s sponsors donated over $5,000 in goods for our silent auction! Make your bid anytime between now and the end of the Pride Festival weekend - no credit card information required.
Examples of some items include:
$100 gift card for Ithaca Bakery / Collegetown Bagels
Overnight stays at The Statler Hotel, New Park Event Venue, Finger Lake Cabins, and Diamond on Seneca
Gift certificates to local chiropractors and tattoo & piercing stores, bookstores, and gift & local goods’ suppliers
Experiences like a class at Hammerstone Carpentry or Cayuga Lake Cruise!
The auction is open until June 30th.
Share Your Pride Event or Activity
Pride happens across our community.
The Ithaca Pride Alliance publishes community events and activities - hosted by you! - happening across May and June in our annual printed Pride Guide, and we share happenings and events on our social media. Examples of community Pride events from previous years include clothing swaps, queer board game nights, drag shows, and more! Submit your event to get the word out.
If you would like a full-page ad or special feature in the Pride Guide, please contact our fundraising team by April 18th.
Meet our Sponsors
Local sponsors make Pride possible. Check out the amazing businesses & organizations that are supporting Pride, and thank them for making our festival and weekend activities a success.
Can you help us fund a successful Pride Festival this year? The Ithaca Pride Festival is 100% funded by local businesses and individual donations - every dollar counts and is appreciated.