Saturday night’s Pride Houston parade was cancelled because of rainy weather and flooding, organizers said in a Facebook post.

The annual parade was scheduled to start at Houston City Hall at 7:30 p.m. and proceed through downtown Houston before concluding at 10 p.m.

SHANTAY, THEY STAY: Here are 38 of Houston’s fiercest, most fabulous drag queens

“With heavy hearts, and out of concern for the safety of our community, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the 2026 Pride Houston 365 Parade due to severe weather and flooding conditions,” the Pride Houston 365 Board of Directors said in a statement.  

Organizers said they are exploring potential dates to reschedule the parade between July 19 and Oct. 31. In the past, many attendees have suggested moving Pride events to later in the year to avoid Houston’s notoriously hot weather.

Houston’s Pride festivities are usually held the last weekend of June but were moved up three weeks to accommodate the FIFA World Cup games and festivities. This is the first year Pride events have been canceled because of weather. The parade and festival were canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms rolled through Houston Saturday, causing localized flooding.

The Pride Festival, which kicked things off at 11 a.m. Saturday, will still be open until 7 tonight in front of City Hall.

Several other Pride-related events are still on schedule this weekend, including the popular block party in Montrose outside Varsity Bar. It will feature an outdoor stage and tents, along with guest DJs and drag performances.

South Beach and Rich’s have dance parties featuring guest DJs still on the books for Saturday night. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star and San Antonio native Jorgeous headlines a Pride brunch Sunday at the Improv Houston.

In 1997, the Pride Houston parade moved from day to nighttime to combat extreme temperatures. Organizers moved it to downtown Houston in 2015, driven by crowd growth that outgrew the narrow streets of Montrose, allowing for a larger festival footprint around City Hall. The transition sparked intense community debate, as many felt leaving the historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood removed the parade from its grassroots cultural roots. Nevertheless, it has continued to draw hundreds of thousands of people.

Subscribe

There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.

This article originally published at Houston Pride Parade canceled due to weather concerns, organizers say.