Every June, Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQ community with events across the country.
Last June, Pride was all but canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though the North Bay is slowly returning to normal and several groups are hosting safely distanced Pride events throughout the North Bay this June.
Sonoma County Pride is used to hosting big parades and parties. This year, the organization has adopted the theme “Beyond the Rainbow: Surviving, Reviving, and Thriving,” and is reimaging its month-long schedule of events and activities with offerings such as the “Beyond the Rainbow Drive Through Parade” on Saturday, June 5.
Sonoma County Pride welcomes back Graton Resort & Casino as the Annual Title Sponsor of this year’s Pride celebrations, and the resort will host the drive-through parade, in which dozens of local organizations and sponsors will set up stationary floats and displays in the resort’s parking lot for parade attendees to enjoy from their cars.
The drive-through parade is one of several “micro-events” that Sonoma County Pride will host in June. Other planned events include an outdoor comedy show featuring openly gay standup star Jason Stuart at Deerfield Ranch Winery in Kenwood on June 18; the “Behind the Curtain” dinner and The Wizard of Oz sing-along hosted by Jan Wahl at Sally Tomatoes in Rohnert Park on June 19; and the “Rainbow City Concert” featuring openly gay singer, rapper, choreographer and lifelong The Wizard of Oz devotee Todrick Hall at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa on June 26. (sonomacountypride.org)
After being limited to its Pride Cruise Night and March in June 2020, Napa Valley LGBTQ Pride also boasts a variety of live events scheduled this June.
To keep things socially distant, Napa Valley Pride once again will host a Pride Cruise Night on Saturday, June 5, along Jefferson Street in downtown Napa. They invite the public to decorate cars and blast KVYN 99.3 FM The Vine, which will broadcast Pride music by DJ Rotten Robbie. Following the parade, the after-party kicks off at the Hollywood Room at Napa Valley Distillery.
Other Napa Valley Pride events include the LGBT Q&A panel for parents and teens on June 11, the Rainbow Play Date for families with little ones at Fuller Park on June 12, the Wine & Pride concert featuring Grammy-winning artist Jody Watley outdoors at the Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena on June 26, and the American Canyon Pride Pop-Up on June 27. (napavalleypride.org)
In Marin County, the Spahr Center–which serves the LGBTQ+ community and supports those affected by HIV–is holding an LGBTQ+ Pride rally at noon on Saturday, June 26, at Novato City Hall, 901 Sherman Avenue in Novato. The event is being held to thank City and Town Councils throughout Marin, as well as the Board of Supervisors, for flying the LGBTQ+ Pride Flag during the month of June, and to present the center’s LGBTQ+ agenda for Marin County. As with all events, they encourage masks and social distancing. (thespahrcenter.org)
