Orange County Pride is seeking public input during a virtual community meeting today to help determine which city should host the future OC Pride Festival and Parade. The public can participate by attending the Zoom meeting today at 7:30 p.m., commenting with their preferred city on Facebook or completing a survey on the OC Pride website.
Orange County’s first Pride festival was held in 1989 at Centennial Park in Santa Ana. The festival relocated in 2024 to the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.
Bulmaro “Boomer” Vicente, OC Pride’s director of philanthropy, said, “There’s a lot of support and a lot of passion to bring Pride back in Santa Ana,” with many community members and local businesses expressing support for returning the event to the city.
Rebecca Pasillas, a 32-year-old Santa Ana resident and performing artist, said she hopes OC Pride returns to the city, which she described as more celebratory and accessible. “The energy was definitely a lot more vibrant when it was held in a beautiful downtown area,” she said, adding that its recent move to the OC Fairgrounds “felt like Pride was forced to be hidden.”
“This is not the time to hide and be fearful,” said Pasillas, who performs under the stage name Lady Xtabay. “We must embrace community.”
Bryan Terry, executive director of OC Pride, acknowledged the enthusiasm but noted that hosting the event in Santa Ana can be more expensive than venues such as the fairgrounds.
“I know there is a growing, loud push for us to be in downtown Santa Ana,” he said. “The beauty of Orange County Pride is that we can be anywhere in the county. There’s even talk of possibly rotating the festival to different cities each year.”
Terry added: “We’re asking for follow-up feedback because we want to make sure we’re delivering an experience for our community. Right now, our community is under attack, and it’s time to band together, lock arms and be a family. Sometimes families fight or don’t always agree, but when someone attacks us, we close ranks.”
After this week’s meeting, the executive director said he will likely recommend the board reconvene by next Wednesday for a final vote on where the event will be held.