Photos: 16th Street swells with PrideFest

This might be the gayest 16th Street has ever been.

Events have been going on around Denver throughout June for Pride Month, but it all culminated on Sunday, June 28, at Denver PrideFest, which organizers estimate was attended by about 500,000 people.

And this year, those 500,000 people packed into 16th Street from Arapahoe Street to Broadway for one day of festivities, rather than a full weekend at the event’s traditional Civic Center Park location, due to ongoing construction at the park.

People donning rainbow, sequins, glitter and more filled every crevice of the recently revitalized 16th Street, including the Denver Pavilions, surrounding businesses and alleyways.

The festival’s downtown location meant there were no fences around the event’s boundaries, but security roamed and anyone with a bag was subject to a bag check. The new location gave a different, more urban vibe; while the shade of Civic Center Park was missed, it was good to see 16th Street fully activated.

Artisan and food vendors lined the street as the Gayborhood Market displayed handmade goods by local artists and festive music filled the area. Headliners Nini Coco, Pattie Gonia and King Molasses took the center stage, but plenty of other talented people performed.

Denver PrideFest is one of the biggest Pride festivals in the country, and the only one of its size to be put on by the city’s local community center, according to Center on Colfax CEO Kim Salvaggio. The event is a major fundraiser for The Center, the LGBTQ+ community resource center that has been organizing other Pride events throughout the month. Proceeds support resources such as free mental-health counseling, support groups for transgender and gender diverse people, youth programming, events for older adults and more.

See photos from the first Denver PrideFest on 16th Street: