Douglas County Pride returns to Parker after 2025 cancellation

Douglas County PrideFest returned to Parker as both a celebration and a test of whether the event had regained its footing after a year away. The festival was held Sunday at Salisbury Park, 15 days before the start of Pride Month, after organizers canceled the 2025 event when board turnover left the group without enough capacity to keep the festival going alongside its monthly support meetings.

The 2026 PrideFest was scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and was free to attend with registration required. Douglas County Pride said the day included drag entertainers, musical artists, live art demonstrations, more than 60 vendors and booths, kids’ and teens’ zones, food trucks, a drink tent and sponsor support. The organization also said it was raising $20,000 to cover fencing, stage and sound, and security, a sign that the comeback was being built with tighter planning and a heavier emphasis on safety.

That organizational reset mattered because Douglas County Pride has spent years navigating tension around the festival. In 2023, protesters disrupted a drag performance at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock. 9NEWS reported that roughly 70 men wore matching shirts reading “Stand to Protect Children,” while Denver7 reported that more than 60 protesters showed up, some families had to be escorted out and organizers later found homophobic slurs spray-painted around the fairgrounds. After those incidents, the festival moved to Parker for 2024 and added more security.

For attendees, Sunday’s gathering carried meaning beyond the performances and vendor tents. Laura Jamison and Rob Brill said they came to support their son, who is gay, and to show that Douglas County families can openly back the LGBTQIA community. Kris Kidwell, a longtime attendee, said there was “no reason to fear what’s different” once people recognized how much they shared in common. His husband, Joshua LeConey, pointed to how much more open life has become than it was decades ago.

Younger attendees, including Lorenzo Luciano, Emit Kupzyk, Eli Brill and CJ Bennett, described the event as proof that support still exists in Douglas County even when the broader political climate can feel hostile. Douglas County Pride describes itself as an all-volunteer organization with a mission to build community through education, advocacy and service, and it said it was expanding volunteer recruitment and training in 2026. After a canceled year, the return to Parker suggested the festival is not only back on the calendar, but rebuilding with more structure and clearer civic support.