It’s more than just one parade. Celebrate Pride and Wisconsin’s LGBTQ+ community throughout the state all month long.
The month of June offers far more than just the start of summer—it’s also Pride, a month-long observance and celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Filled with parades, festivals, and other fun events, Pride Month is an exciting time of celebration, but it’s also an opportunity to commemorate LGBTQ+ history.
The observance is held in June to coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall riots—a series of gay liberation protests, riots, and demonstrations in New York City that saw members of the LGBTQ+ community protesting against persecution.
There are plenty of ways to celebrate Pride Month in Wisconsin. From supporting LGBTQ+-owned businesses to visiting parades, festivals, and markets, or going back to the observance’s roots and advocating for equal rights, here are some of the best ways that Wisconsinites can celebrate Pride 2026.
See some of the state’s best pride parades
Sure, there is more that Pride has to offer than just parades, but that doesn’t mean you should miss out on some of the fun parades that the state has to offer. One of its most prominent is the Milwaukee Pride Parade, held on June 7. The parade was first founded in 2005 and runs through the city’s Walker’s Point neighborhood.
Visit Wisconsin’s iconic LGBTQ+ bars
Wisconsin has no shortage of bars and breweries, including many gay and lesbian bars, which host special events specifically for Pride Month.
In addition to its regularly scheduled events, like karaoke, bingo, and DJ sets, Walker’s Pint, one of the few remaining lesbian bars in the country, is pulling out all the stops for Pride Month. The bar is hosting a watch party for the Milwaukee Pride Parade on June 7, which passes by the bar, and is celebrating Pride all weekend long leading up to it.
The longest-running gay bar in Wisconsin (following the 2025 closure of This Is It!), Napalese Lounge and Grille, first opened in 1982, and is also getting involved in the fun of Pride Month through several different themed events, like Pride-themed trivia on June 10, and a Green Bay Pride pre-party comedy drag show on June 19. Green Bay’s Pride festival will be held June 20, and the Napalese Lounge and Grille will be celebrating with Pride events throughout the weekend.
Support LGBTQ+-owned businesses
One of the best ways to show support for a community is with your wallet, making economic choices that support your beliefs. During Pride, make a point to stop in and dine at one of the many restaurants owned by LGBTQIA+ restauranters.
Delta Beer Lab, a brewery in Fitchburg, opened its doors in 2019 with a goal of combining its love of craft beer with a passion for creating social change, and they’ve worked to achieve that. During the brewery’s first five years in business, Delta Beer Lab’s customers donated more than $220,000 to local nonprofits that the brewery has partnered with through leaving generous tips. Delta Beer Lab, which pays its beertenders a living wage, donates 100% of the tips received to its nonprofit partners.
Wisconsinites can also support LGBT-owned places to stay, like Castle La Crosse in La Crosse. The stunning bed-and-breakfast, which was built in 1892, is located on La Crosse’s historic Cass Street. Originally a private residence, Castle La Crosse was sold and became bishops’ housing, then student housing, and was reopened in 2017 as Castle La Crosse, a five-suite bed-and-breakfast.
To find more LGBTQ+-owned businesses throughout Wisconsin, check out the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Attend a drag night (or brunch)
It’s always a great time to go watch incredible drag performances, whether it’s Pride Month or not—but it’s all the more fun when it is Pride Month. There are drag nights (or drag brunch events for early birds) at bars, restaurants, cafes, and even more locations all throughout Wisconsin, especially throughout June.
One of the best places to catch a drag show is at The Tulip Tavern, one of downtown Racine’s newest bars, which opened in 2025. The bar regularly hosts shows featuring local drag queens, as well as other drag events, such as drag bingo.
Each month, The Oxbow Hotel in Eau Claire hosts several drag events, including an oftentimes themed drag brunch, where patrons can enjoy a show along with bottomless mimosas and French toast. The hotel, which is partly owned by Eau Claire native Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, also hosts other drag events, including drag bingo, hosted by local drag queen Khloe Wold.
Go to a Pride festival
Wisconsin’s two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison, have pride celebrations and festivals that draw in large crowds year after year, but so do some of Wisconsin’s smaller cities, towns, and villages, which are worth a visit as well.
Viroqua, the county seat of Vernon County, is a city of a little more than 4,500 residents, and is celebrating Pride Month with the Viroqua Area Pride festival on June 27. The annual festival will feature entertainment like drag performances and live music, and will also have artisan vendors selling their crafts throughout the festival.
Pride is also being celebrated in Wisconsin’s Northwoods at the Northwoods Pride Festival, which marks its 10th anniversary in 2026. The festival, held on June 6, will feature live music, food trucks, drag performances, and outreach through a LGBTQ+ resource fair.
Lake Geneva is launching its annual Pride festival this year, from June 11 through June 14. The family-friendly event will have sidewalk sales, comedy shows, and drag performances through its four days.
Research local LGBTQ+ history
It’s important to know about major LGBTQ+ historical events, like the Stonewall Riots or the election of Harvey Milk, but this Pride Month, spend some time learning about the LGBTQ+ history that’s a bit closer to home. The Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project chronicles the history of the LGBTQ+ movement within the state, and has been working with the University of Wisconsin Archives since 1994 to create a digital collection of LGBTQ+ historical media.
Study up in the project’s archives, and also do research on Wisconsin-based historical events, like the Black Nite brawl, when patrons at the Black Nite, a prominent gay bar in Milwaukee, defended themselves against a violent homophobic attack in 1961.
Stand up for LGBTQ+ rights by advocating for causes
While Pride Month is joyous, fun, and celebratory, it’s important not to forget that it’s also an observance of a political movement for equal rights—and that fight is still happening. One of the most important things that members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies can do throughout the month is to continue to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights.
Get involved with groups like Fair Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to securing equal rights for Wisconsin’s LGBTQ+ community. The organization is currently working to make state laws more inclusive of the transgender and non-binary community.
