The Vancouver Pride Festival is a gay festival in Vancouver’s West End that celebrates the city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It includes a famous Pride Parade.

In 2025 the festival runs on August 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The parade happens on the last day.

Related events that typically happen during or close to Pride Week include The Really Gay History Tours with Forbidden Vancouver, the Vancouver Pride Festival, and Pride at the Pier in North Vancouver. In early August there’s also the Vancouver Pride Boat Party with Vancouver Boat Parties, and Pride Night at Bard on the Beach.

Some LGBTQ events unrelated to the “official” Vancouver Pride Festival also happen earlier in the summer. In 2025 the Pride event at the Britannia Mine Museum, for example, was Old Town New Queens. It took place on June 14th. The Pride Night baseball game with the Vancouver Canadians, meanwhile, was on July 22nd.

Below is information about the following:

Click any of the above links to jump to a specific event or topic, or continue reading to learn all about Vancouver Pride Week’s biggest and most popular events.

Vancouver Pride Festival

The Vancouver Pride Festival occurs each year around the end of July and the beginning of August. The Vancouver Pride Parade takes place on the Sunday, on the last day of the festival. June is Pride Month worldwide, so there are some celebrations then as well!

About Vancouver Pride Week

Vancouver’s West End, especially Davie Street, is famous for its rainbow colours and gay-friendly atmosphere throughout the year, but especially in early August when Vancouver’s annual Pride Festival takes place.

Hosted by the Vancouver Pride Society, the series of events is celebrated not only by Vancouver’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but by the entire city and visitors from around the world.

You don’t have to be a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to appreciate the Vancouver Pride Parade, which is one of the city’s most impressive annual parades. Over 100,000 people turn out each year to enjoy the music, rainbow colours, festive atmosphere and crazy costumes.

When and Where

The Vancouver Pride Festival usually takes place the week leading up to BC Day which includes the first Monday in August. Most of the events take place in Vancouver’s West End. There are also events at other downtown locations, though, as well as Pride at the Pier in North Vancouver.

One major change in 2025 is that there will be no VanPrideFest at Concord Pacific Place near Science World this year. Instead, there will be a street festival on Davie Street, similar to the annual Davie Street Block Party event that used to be held there (which hasn’t happened since 2019). The Vancouver Pride Parade has a new route this year as well, starting at Concord Pacific Place and ending on Davie Street. All festivities this year run on August 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

DRAG SHOWS IN VANCOUVER

If you like drag shows, you’ll want to check out What the Frock Productions. It’s one of the region’s premier drag and comedy show companies. For details about the group and their shows, see the whatthefrockproductions.com website.

Another fun drag-themed event is Murder is a Drag with Vancouver Mysteries. They are murder-mystery dinner theatre shows that take place about once a month. They are hilarious and lots of fun.

Pride Events Schedule

Below is the schedule for the 2025 Pride Festival as of mid-July. Event details are subject to change.

Pride Events on August 1st, 2025

7:00 pm – The Future of Drag (at Celebrities Nightclub)
8:00 pm to 2:00 am – Man Up (at The Commodore)
10:30 pm to 3:00 am – Black Parade Vol 4 (at The Pearl)

Vancouver's Pride Lounge — The Pride Lounge at Stanley Park

Pride Events on August 2nd, 2025

8:00 am to 12:00 pm – Terry Wallace Breakfast (at 1207 Bute)
1:00 pm – In the Key of Soul (at Ocean Artworks Pavilion)
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm – Wet and Wild Pop Disco (at 1125 Davie)
1:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Le Hangover Pool/Block Party (at The Birdhouse)
4:00 pm to 11:30 pm – Public Disco Pride Block Party (at 3rd and Ontario)
6:00 pm – Drag Me to Davie (at 1125 Davie)
9:00 pm to 3:00 am – Rhythm of The Night (at The Commodore)
10:00 pm to 3:00 am – Ricecake REMIX (at The Birdhouse)

Pride Events on August 3rd, 2025

1:00 pm to 3:30 pm – Pride Parade (at Pacific Blvd)
2:00 pm to 10:00 pm – Davie Village Pride Festival (in the West End)
2:00 pm to 9:00 pm – Nelson Park Pride Festival (at Nelson Park)
3:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Untoxicated (at David Lam Park)
1:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Queers & Beers Block Party (at The Birdhouse)
10:00 pm to 3:00 am – Level Up // Hip Hop Pride Party (at The Birdhouse)

REALLY GAY HISTORY TOURS

Forbidden Vancouver is a locally-owned and operated walking tour company. It offers affordably-priced walking tours around downtown Vancouver, Gastown and Stanley Park on different days of the week.

On Sunday afternoons throughout most of the year Forbidden Vancouver also offers its Really Gay History Tour which is a two-hour guided journey around Vancouver’s West End.

On the tour you’ll learn about the city’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community and its history (which includes bookstore bombings and police raids). The experience includes visits to Robson Square, Granville Street and Davie Street Village. All are welcome!

Click Really Gay History Tour for details about this specific tour, or see our article about Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours to learn about the company and its other offerings.

Tour Guide in Davie Village — Forbidden Vancouver’s Really Gay History Tours Guide

Pride Run and Walk

The Pride Run & Walk has taken place in most recent years on the Sunday of the August long weekend at Sunset Beach. In 2025, however, the event happened on Sunday, July 13th.

The route usually begins at the Brockton Oval Fieldhouse in Stanley Park at 9:00 am. There is the option to do either a 5 km or a 10 km course. Both routes go along the seawall towards False Creek and as far as Yaletown before turning around and returning to Stanley Park most years.

The Pride Run & Walk is for people of all abilities. There are competitive runners as well as people just out for a fun time. Many participants dress up – often quite spectacularly and in bright colours. There are prizes for the best costumes. The event is usually free to take part in, although donations are recommended.

For more details about the event and to register for the next one, check out the Pride Run & Walk website.

Pride at the Pier

Pride at the Pier is a family-friendly event at Shipbuilders’ Square near the bottom of Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver. In 2025 it takes place on Saturday, August 2nd.

Click Pride at the Pier for more information.

Pride at the Pier Characters — Pride at the Pier Drag Queen Participants

VanPrideFest at Concord Community Park

The Pride Festival typically happens on the Sunday just before BC Day. In 2024, however, the festival ran on both the Saturday and Sunday of August 3rd and 4th. In 2023 and 2024 the event was called VanPrideFest.

The free event used to take place at Sunset Beach Park, but in 2023 and 2024 it was at Concord Community Park along Pacific Boulevard near False Creek. In 2025 there won’t be a VanPrideFest event, at least not to our knowledge. Instead there will be a street party along Davie Street and Nelson Park in the West End on August 3rd. The event features drag performances, market vendors, a low-sensory zone, live music and more from 2:00 to 10:00 pm.

In years when VanPrideFest happened at Concord Pacific Place there was a Pride Market. It featured over 100 different vendors and exhibitors. There was also live music, drag performances, DJ music, a beer garden and lots of people still in costume after participating in the Vancouver Pride Parade.

Click VanPrideFest for more information.

Sunset Beach at Pride Festival — Pride Festival at Sunset Beach

Vancouver Pride Parade

The largest event of its kind in Western Canada, the Vancouver Pride Parade is arguably the highlight of the Vancouver Pride Festival. Taking place on the last Sunday of Pride Week, so on the Sunday of the BC Day Long Weekend, it’s one of the city’s most impressive parades all year, and definitely its most colourful.

The parade takes place on the first Sunday in August (so on August 3rd in 2025). It runs from 1:00 pm until around 3:30 pm.

The Pride Parade Route

The live in-person Vancouver Pride Parade used to start at the corner of Robson Street and Thurlow Street in downtown Vancouver. Years ago it ended at Sunset Beach. However, the parade has been altered slightly in each of the last couple years.

In 2025 the parade begins at Griffiths Way near BC Place Stadium. It goes west along Pacific Boulevard all the way to Howe Street, and eventually up to Nelson Park.

The Vancouver Pride Parade is a large, long, colourful and entertaining parade. It lasts for well over an hour and includes rainbow-coloured floats, marching bands, and people in all kinds of flamboyant, exotic and sometimes unconventional costumes.

Click Pride Parade to learn more about the Sunday event.

Tips & Advice

Below are some tips to help you make the most of your Vancouver Pride Festival experience.

TIP #1: Get to the parade early if you want a good viewing spot. This is without doubt one of Vancouver’s most popular parades and the streets get lined with gazillions of spectators. Unless you’re really tall, if you arrive late you’ll be seriously challenged to find a good place to watch from.

TIP #2: For the VanPrideFest and Pride Parade events, take public transit if you can. Parking is difficult and traffic is a nightmare.

TIP #3: If you’ve never been to the Vancouver Pride Parade, go! It’s a fun, inclusive, entertaining and impressive event.