By admin 
Sacramento came out Sunday — to the pride parade, that is — and it wanted the world to know.
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This weekend was the 2026 Sacramento Pride festival and parade celebration, and pride-filled attendees of all ages lined the streets of downtown Sacramento Sunday morning as floats, entertainers and other rainbow-clad groups marched from Southside Park to the state Capitol building.
The march’s contingents represented a variety of businesses and organizations throughout the capital region. Organizations like the Rainbow Girl Scouts of Sacramento and local labor unions had small but mighty teams on foot, while the largest groups belonged to the area’s healthcare groups, namely UC Davis Health, Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente.
Decorative themed floats bore the names and members of some Sacramento groups and businesses. The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus sat upon a sparkly trailer with streamers and rainbow rhinestones, while the Faces Nightclub went all-out with a beach-themed truck carrying dancers and drag queens.
Marching bands, majorette troupes and cheer squads pumped up the crowds covering the three-quarter-mile route as they cheered and danced along.
“It’s good to be with our fellow brothers and sisters out here, our non-binary folks,” said parade grand marshal C-yah Envy, perched atop an open-air car sponsored by the California Automobile Museum. “Everyone coming together and representing, celebrating each other is amazing.”
Sacramento Pride has been ongoing since 1979, launched in honor of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City 10 years prior, according to the organization’s website. In the decades since, the city’s celebration has expanded to a two-day festival spanning Capitol Mall, plus the annual parade and a new Pride 5K race hosted by local queer running club Sacramento FrontRunners.
Marching for pride and community
March attendees and participants ranged from noise-cancelling-headphone-wearing infants to LGBTQ+ elders, and many shared the same sentiments of promoting unity and community during Pride Month.
“Pride this year actually means a lot more than usual, because I think we’re all in a very scary place in the world,” said Envy. “Now it’s the time for everyone to stick together.”
Envy has been a local performer and community organizer throughout the Sacramento region since 2009, and she said being nominated as a grand marshal for the city’s pride parade felt like a culmination of her more than 25 years of work.
“I feel like everyone deserves a chance to shine, and it finally paid off this year. I was not expecting it, but I feel really amazing,” Envy said. “I feel like everything that I ever worked for is for this moment right here.”
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Sunday was the fifth time that Elizabeth Sarnoff, a singer in the beloved capital region performance group, the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus, marched in the parade with the chorus. Sarnoff joined the singers seven years ago after discovering that despite its name, the chorus accepts women singers as long as they can reach the lower register.
“This is such an incredible group of people that I love representing,” Sarnoff said. “Everybody should have the opportunity to be their authentic self.
Sarnoff echoed many of Envy’s feelings about participating in pride celebrations this year, saying that visibility of the LGBTQ+ community is more important than ever.
“It amazes me that there are still people who don’t want to let other people just live their lives,” Sarnoff said. “Just letting people know we are here, we exist, it’s an important message.”
‘Happiness, gay and love’
For many attendees, it was their first time attending Sacramento Pride, or any pride event at all.
Michael Celestine and Joshua Manatan visited a friend in the city over the Pride festival weekend, and they had the opportunity to join in Sacramento’s fun for the first time. Though the procession had only just started to pass by them, the pair said they already enjoyed the parade’s atmosphere and seeing the cars and motorbikes leading the march.
Lizzie Minor and her girlfriend, Nicole Aveningo, experienced their first Pride parade together on Sunday after finding time away from work.
“It’s so fun to see all the community out,” Minor said. The couple also brought along Minor’s young son, Grady, who said he had previously been to another pride event and feels that it’s important to express pride.
“Happiness, gay and love,” were the main things Grady said pride meant to him.
Though Cara and John Vierra had previously attended Sacramento Pride, they introduced their daughter, Bristol, to the festivities for the first time this year. Cara Vierra said the celebration felt positive and upbeat, and that it felt essential to share the experience with her daughter.
“Good vibes, celebrating love, which is important to show (Bristol),” Vierra said. “Anyone can love anyone, that’s our big thing, we love and accept everyone.”
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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 4:20 PM.