Ensuring a Safe and Fair Festival: A Message from the Board

During Saturday's Cincinnati Pride Festival & Parade programs, multiple unregistered vendors and groups were asked to leave the park.  We have fielded a number of questions about what exactly happened and how Cincinnati Pride handles situations like this.

Hosting a volunteer-organized, major community event requires a significant amount of planning, permitting, and approvals from the City and Parks Department, as well as our own liability insurance.  There is a registration process each year that is well advertised and open to all vendors and community organizations that align with the mission of our organization (in short, supporting and uplifting the Greater Cincinnati LGBTQ+ community).  This process is important for maintaining the equity and inclusion of the festival as Cincinnati Pride subsidizes the rental costs for nonprofits, and we can only fit about 80% of the organizations that want to register into the park (we receive dozens of requests to register after spaces are full). Additionally, organizations are required to provide a copy of their insurance to ensure that we can deliver the safest experience for more than 400 participating organizations and 280,000+ attendees. 

There are signs located at all entrances into the Park indicating no unregistered or outside vendors are allowed.  When an organization or a vendor enters the permitted park space, bringing their own table and chairs with the intention of commandeering an open space or pushing a cart selling rainbow apparel, Cincinnati Pride volunteers have the authority to ask that group to leave.  We engage with these groups in a clear, direct, but non-forceful manner.  When a vendor is asked multiple times to please vacate and refuses to do so, we will engage park security or officers to assist with enforcing safety rules and protocols. Unauthorized vendors/groups as well as protesters are asked to leave the permitted area and are directed to go across the street or outside of the boundaries. 

These actions are essential for maintaining the safety of the festival and fairness to the other organizations that followed and respected our organizing process and constraints. Our Pride Festival welcomes a multitude of identities and folks representing a variety of beliefs, abilities, and organizations.
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We had a fabulous time on Saturday and believe our community did too.  We are thankful for everyone’s love and support and hope to reflect it back ten-fold throughout the year. We look forward to hosting everyone again in 2026.

Cincinnati Pride Board of Directors