Pride Month might be coming to a close, but for LGBTQ+ people in Bellingham, the festivities are just beginning. Pride in Bellingham, the city’s annual Pride event, is July 6–7, with events ranging from a parade to a festival and even an all-ages dance party.
Pride events have occurred in Bellingham since 1999, but 2024 is only the third year of Pride in Bellingham. Its organizing committee represents a diverse swath of the local LGBTQ+ community, with queer elders working alongside younger generations to bring the celebration to life. Last year’s festival had an impressive turnout — and they expect the 2024 festival to be an even bigger party.
What to expect in 2024
Pride in Bellingham kicks off with a family picnic at Boundary Bay Brewery at noon on Saturday, July 6. It features an expanded beer garden in Cedar Dust Alley as well as crafts, barbecue, music and drag performances. An all-ages dance party will take place at Depot Market Square from 7–10 p.m. that same day.
The main festivities happen Sunday, July 7, with a parade beginning at 11 a.m. at Waypoint Park. The procession will move through Chestnut Street, Cornwall Avenue, Champion Street and Railroad Avenue before ending at Depot Market Square. Iconic local drag queen Betty Desire will emcee the parade, and entrant sign-ups close July 3.
Finally, the weekend culminates with a Pride festival at Depot Market Square. It features performances as well as booths for numerous vendors and community organizations, including Lifelong, Sean Humphrey House, Free Mom Hugs, Northwest Youth Services, Subdued City Rollers and the Roller Betties. The crowd can also expect performances from more than 15 local drag queens, including MX, Rikki Sensation, Feather Fatale and Dizzy Phoria, as well as out-of-town performers including Hot Pink Shade and Vivienne Paradisco.
And although June is technically Pride month, Pride in Bellingham is scheduled for July to line up with other Pride events on the West Coast, which begin in Southern California and move northward. Pride in Bellingham falls in the weeks between Seattle Pride and Vancouver Pride.
Weather is also a factor: “Bellinghamsters are pragmatic,” Desire said. “We love to party — we don’t like necessarily partying in the rain.”
The evolution of Pride in Bellingham
Pride in Bellingham organizers estimated an attendance of 10,000–12,000 for 2023. This scale is a far cry from the city’s first Pride festival, which occurred in 1999 and consisted of just six picnic tables at Fairhaven Park.
Bellingham’s inaugural Pride parade took place eight years later, in 2007. Former Bellingham Pride chair Nick Milhoan said it only took up half the street — oddly appropriate, he added, given the recent passage of Senate Bill 5336. (The bill recognized same-sex domestic partnerships, though Milhoan said it only secured LGBTQ+ people “half our rights.”)
Milhoan, who served as Bellingham Pride chair from 2009–2011, said these early events were a true grassroots effort. Their first “big” sponsor, Absolut Vodka, donated just $1,000 in 2011 — a big deal at the time. “I learned as PFLAG and Pride president to stretch a dollar 10 ways from sideways,” Milhoan said. “We learned how to scrimp and save, and we would take any in-kind donation from a local business that they were willing to give, because we’d find a way to turn that into profit.”
As time went on, Bellingham Pride became the second-largest Pride event in Washington state — but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, its original organizers stepped down. Another group, Whatcom Pride organized a smaller, pop-up Pride event in 2021. All this led to the formation of Pride in Bellingham in 2022.
“We started preparing for this year’s Pride pretty much after last year’s,” Desire said. “We’ve been working all this time to make sure that it is a festival worthy of this beautiful city.”
LBGTQ+ visibility in Bellingham
Desire, 69, is grateful to see so much queer visibility in Bellingham, noting LGBTQ+ individuals have always influenced the city’s culture. She leads the Good Time Girls’ “BellingQueer History” walking tours and said they reveal “what a love affair this city has had with ‘female impersonation’ as entertainment.” (Fun fact: The first drag queen in Bellingham was documented in the 1890s.)
But Desire said this level of outward support is a recent development. She’s been involved in Bellingham’s Pride events since their inception; for the first few parades, she said, “It was really difficult to convince people to display a Pride flag — and now there are more Pride flags and Pride symbols in the city of Bellingham than I see on Capitol Hill in Seattle.”
Desire publishes alternative tabloid The Betty Pages and has been performing in drag in Whatcom County since the ‘90s. Until the past decade, however, she said just one establishment — Rumors Cabaret — would support local drag artists. Now, she estimates between 10–15 local venues host drag performances at least on occasion. And as a new generation of drag performers take the reins, Desire has taken to early-evening performances for the LGBTQ+ retiree crowd — that way she can “party like I used to when I was younger, and still be in bed by 9:30.”
The Pride in Bellingham organizing committee is also intergenerational, reflecting both the past and future of the local queer community. While some members, such as Desire and Rian Greer (who owns Rumors Cabaret) have been involved in the community for decades, others like Daija Heyward, 26, represent a new generation. Heyward said working alongside queer elders is “a huge honor.”
“I was never exposed to older queer people growing up, so being exposed to such a diverse team is truly so special,” they said. “I have so much respect for the folks who have built this community and love being able to infuse their traditions with new ideas.”
The LGBTQ+ community’s growth is also reflected in the recent founding of the Q Center, a “critical, inclusive third space … for our 18+ intergenerational LGBTQ+ community members to gather downtown,” according to the Bellingham Queer Collective website.
“It blows my mind [and] makes me happy-cry that we have a community center,” Milhoan said. “I know we’ve talked about wanting to have one for years — and to finally have a space is nothing short of amazing.”
And while Bellingham is largely supportive of LGBTQ+ individuals, Desire said it’s important to remember other cities aren’t as accepting — especially given the number of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced in 2024 — and to never take safety for granted. Prejudice also exists close to home, though for Desire, it underlines the importance of building community and commemorating Pride in the first place.
“You know, Harvey Milk said everyone should come out — because when our neighbors know us, they’re less and less apt to fall for the lies about us,” she said. “So visibility really does save lives.”
Pride in Bellingham occurs July 6–7 in downtown Bellingham. A full lineup of events can be found at prideinbellingham.org.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
