In August 2017, the City of Akron's Inaugural Akron Pride Festival took place at Hardesty Park in the Wallhaven neighborhood in Akron. The festival was created by a dedicated team of volunteers who with intention and passion, planned the festival a year in advance.
We often get the question: why did you choose the month of August to celebrate? The simple answer is that the Akron Pride Festival Committee selected August to not compete with other Pride Festivals throughout the region, including Pride in The Cle™ being held on June 4.
After all, Pride should be celebrated all summer, if not every day of the year! Our Pride Steering Committee consists of approximately 20 community volunteers who give selflessly of their time and talent all year round.
The Akron Pride Festival is a celebration of music, entertainment, and information focused on promoting equality and inclusion of ALL people.
As Akron Pride Festival continued to grow in size and numbers and took place at Hardesty Park through 2019, our attendance topped 20,000 guests. Following the festival's cancellation during the pandemic in 2020, the committee determined, with our growth, we would expand our Equity March and event and move Downtown to Lock 3 on Main Street to accommodate for expansion and safety of all attending. In our first year in downtown Akron, we hosted more than 24,000 guests on August 28, 2021, and more than 3,000 participants opened the festival celebrating diversity and inclusion as a part of our Equity March!
This year, we expect 30,000 guests to our Akron Pride Festival and Equity March on August 27, 2022. We also have the following Pride events beginning in June:
- June 11, 2022: Akron Pride Festival Drag Battle, Akron Civic Theatre https://www.akroncivic.com/show/akron-pride-festival-drag-battle
- June 21: Pride Fundraiser, Mercedes' Taverne, 5-7 p.m.
- June 26: Pride Drag Brunch, Jilly's Music Room, 12 p.m. Ticketed Event
- July 23:-APF Drag Crawl, Akron Bars
- July 30: Lock 3 Rocky Horror Picture Show
- August 10: Pride Night at the Akron Rubber Ducks, 6:35 p.m.
- August 27: Akron Pride Festival & Equity March, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
The Akron Pride Festival and Equity March could not take place without the support of the City of Akron, Summit County, and its leaders. We are grateful for our fiscal agent, the Community AIDS Network Akron Pride Initiative, our Akron Pride Festival presenting sponsor, J.M. Smucker Company, and the Equity March presenting sponsor First Energy. We are equally excited to have GOJO Industries participating in the Akron Pride Festival as our hand hygiene sponsor, ensuring our more than 30,000 guests have access to hand sanitizer as they enjoy the festivities.
To learn more about the Akron Pride Festival and Equity March, go to www.AkronPrideFestival.org.