Something for everyone at Pride 2026

Asking several organizers what Lansing Pride actually is, practically speaking, yielded many responses: A festival celebrating local queer culture, a chance for folks to wear what they want and be who they are, a joyous protest amid an upturn in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and a federal crackdown on trans rights.

The organizers interviewed were excited about different things, too: Local drag queen Trifecta, the entertainment director for Lansing Pride, is excited for the diversity in vendors, with more than 300 in attendance this year (roughly 100 more than last). 

Board Director Mary Heatherington is excited for the expanded programming in the festival’s family area, and that the event has remained free and open to all.  

Board Secretary Mariah Sanchez is excited that the festival is expanding to include the newly opened Fish Ladder Music Park, which includes a renovated Brenke Fish Ladder converted into a permanent amphitheater.

“It’s not something we have to build ourselves; it’s using the architecture that’s already here, it’s using the history,” Sanchez said. “It incorporates our hometown.”

Practically speaking, Lansing Pride is a festival celebrating queer and trans identity and culture in Lansing, held annually in Old Town since 2022. Vendors and sponsors line Turner St. and Cesar E. Chavez Ave, and musicians and drag performers take to two stages. About 30,000 people — that’s last year’s attendance, and organizers are expecting an increase — take to the streets in celebration. This year’s event will run from 1-9 p.m. on Saturday, with a “white party” the preceding day and an afterparty at Copper Moon that night.

This year, performances will be set between the Fish Ladder, sponsored by Lansing Community College, and a main stage sponsored by the Ovation Center on Turner Street at Old Town’s northern end. 

Programming on the main stage includes performances by DJs Keller Shaw (1-2 p.m. and Asia Aviance (5-6 p.m.), East Lansing’s Sistrum chorus with a history of lesbian and queer inclusion (2-3 p.m.) and Queer Heart of Michigan, a new all-voices chorus doing a show including music from Disney and other animated musical films. 2025’s Mx. Lansing Pride, drag performer and musician Mag N’ Cheez, will take the stage for an hour starting at 6 p.m. and joined by dancers from Holt’s The Institute of Dancers, followed by a drag show hosted by Detroit drag queen Sabin.

That show will feature Trinity the Tuck, a renowned drag queen best known for competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9 and for winning a season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 4.

On the Fish Ladder Stage, Michigan DJ Monica Parker will spin tracks from 103 p.m., a drag show co-hosted by Bentley James and Trifecta will take place from 32-5 p.m., and a Latin Pride performance featuring Latin house music will take place from 5-7 p.m.

A family zone will operate from 1-5 p.m., featuring entertainment for children such as balloon animals, a bounce house, chalk and two drag storytimes at 2 and 4 p.m. The zone is fenced off from the rest of the festival in the Copper Moon parking lot, and is for families specifically — no kids allowed without parents, no parents allowed without kids.

Teenagers have also begun trickling into the space in recent years, something Heatherington, who coordinates the space, is excited about. For the first time this year, there will be a dedicated space in the family area with music, more adult-oriented crafts like bracelet making (“not just plastic beads,” Heatherington said, giant jenga and drag artists hanging out.

“We’re hoping this gives that age group a place to feel comfortable, feel like they belong, and maybe network with other children that age,” she said. “They’re at that tender age where finding other people they can relate to is a really big deal, so I’m super excited about this area.”

Later, Copper Moon will host an afterparty. The party begins at 8 p.m. (though attendees who enter that early risk missing the end of the second drag show) and will continue until 1 a.m., with a Drag Show hosted by Jordan Michelle and featuring nine other performers beginning at 10:30 p.m. While the main event is free, the afterparty has $10 cover.

Those wanting to party sooner will be excited about the White Party bar crawl the preceding day, featuring performances at UrbanBeat, Copper Moon, Sir Pizza, Zoobies and Esquire Bar. For $10, patrons can receive a wristband allowing them entry into all events, which will have various performances. Patrons should wear white, a theme honoring the “white parties” that began in the ‘80s to raise money for HIV/AIDS-related clinics. More information about specific programming can be found at lansingpride.org/calendar.

This year, Lansing Pride has its first theme: “Love Out Loud.” Sanchez said that put a focus on visibility and belonging in planning, particularly in providing a space for young queer people or others who have not previously felt seen or accepted elsewhere.

“The youth and individuals who may not feel accepted anywhere else, they can feel accepted at Lansing Pride,” she said. “And that can be the first place where they feel fully seen and celebrated.”