New Group Steps Up To Host Tampa Pride Festival After Original Event Canceled
Pride of Tampa will host a festival on March 28 at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. This comes after Tampa Pride canceled its annual event. The new group formed…
Pride of Tampa will host a festival on March 28 at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. This comes after Tampa Pride canceled its annual event. The new group formed fast when the cancellation was announced, which blamed money problems and politics.
Tampa Pride announced it wouldn't hold its 2026 event after losing funding from local, state, and federal grants. The group no longer had enough money to pay its executive director. Anti-DEI policies pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis also played a part in the decision.
Aaron Horcha serves as vice president of the new organizing group. The festival aims to provide a gathering space for the LGBTQ community during a time when many face challenges and uncertainty about their future.
"It's a feeling of pride, equality, belonging, family," Horcha said, according to FOX 13 News. "We really need to have pride every day, and we need to have visibility every day. But that's not necessarily the case. A lot of our people are alienated with their family and friends and so forth. We just really have to come together and be proud."
The event will take place against a backdrop of actions over the past year that some in the LGBTQ community said worked to limit their free speech. Several pride murals were painted over after the governor said the "commandeering" of public roads wouldn't be tolerated.
Pride of Tampa is working with the non-profit P-Flag Riverview to raise the necessary funding. They need to secure resources to put on the event.
The original group didn't say whether it would return to hold a pride event in 2027. The cancellation left the LGBTQ community in the area without a planned gathering.
Horcha stressed the importance of maintaining visibility. The loss of grant funding and policy changes created obstacles that the previous organizers couldn't overcome.
The festival will take place at the Cuban Club in Ybor City on March 28. Details about vendors, entertainment, and other aspects haven't been released yet.
