Aurora Pride plans big annual festival at Winged Melody Park this Saturday
AURORA | Aurora Pride is getting more room to celebrate this year, and at the same time it’s closing in on its focus on a message of inclusion, dignity, respect, and, above all, Pride, organizers say.
The annual festival moves to Winged Melody Park in the Aurora Highlands Aug. 29 for a day designed to bring together the LGBTQ+ community, families, performers and the broader Aurora community.
For Carla Ferreira, CEO of the Aurora Highlands community and a chief sponsor of this year’s venue and event, the new location is more than just offering up more space.
The Aurora Highlands itself reflects the spirit of Aurora Pride, she said, because the neighborhood, like so much of Aurora, is built around inclusiveness and diversity. Rather than simply providing a backdrop for the festival, the community helps reinforce the Pride event’s emphasis on bringing different people and cultures together as a celebration of respect and inclusion.
The expansive and growing art park, known as Winged Melody Park, isn’t just for the growing neighborhood. It’s a regional attraction filled with outdoor art, capitalized with a nostalgic and stunning carousel and the iconic Umi sculpture.
“It’s kind of meant to be like a place for everybody that’s in this area to want to come to,” Ferreira said. “The carousel has this positive Americana thing that we just love and love to share.”
The park exudes an open-space theme-park vibe, especially when the food trucks line up for walkers and gawkers. The carousel becomes a nexus just like it does at Denver’s Lakeside or Elitch’s parks, drawing riders, watchers and all kinds of admirers.
Ferreira says all this makes Winged Melody Park a fitting setting for a celebration whose central message is that everyone belongs.
She’s a part of both communities, making the event even more important for her. As a bisexual, Ferreira said she’s lived with the challenges that Pride events seek to push against and beyond: doubt, shame, trepidation and a search for acceptance.
Pride at the Aurora Highlands is a celebration not just for her, but for all members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, in that anyone doubting themselves and their potential can look to her as an example of a bi-woman becoming the CEO of a major residential development.
“I want them to feel seen and heard, and I want them to have an event that they feel like is just for them, but also in a way that allows everyone else to come in, too,” she said. “It’s not an event where you’re like, if you’re not part of LGBTQ plus, you’re wondering like, ‘do I still get to go to Pride?’ Pride is for everyone, and I think that that’s really important to me.”
And Aurora Pride planners and producers say they’ve got a bonanza event planned for this year.
This time, the emphasis of inclusion will extend through a partnership with Latino Pride, adding another cultural dimension to the festival.
The result is an event that aims to be celebratory without losing sight of its community and family focus, organizers say.
And there will be plenty for families to do.
Festivalgoers can take free rides on the carousel, adding a classic amusement-park touch to a day otherwise filled with music, dancing and Pride performances.
The park also has a playground, so younger visitors can have their own space to play while parents and other festivalgoers take in the entertainment.
Family friendliness is an important part of the festival’s identity. Pride celebrations can sometimes have a reputation for becoming rowdy, but Aurora Pride takes a different approach. The rule of thumb, organizers say, is: Keep it PG-13.
That means the celebration can remain lively, colorful and unmistakably Pride while still creating an environment where families feel comfortable attending together, said Aurora Pride organizer Addison Herron-Wheeler, also Out Front executive editor.
The entertainment lineup reflects the range of cultures and performers expected at the festival.
Hosts and DJs include Evelyn Evermoore, Dustin Schlong, Vic Moral, DJ Unity Adam, DJ Cxrdinalis and DJ Frankie. Drag performers include Cosmic Allure, Cousin T, Heavenly Powers, House of Infiniti, Mirage de la Amour, Miss 2026 Latino Pride Jaxx Stray, Mr. Latino Pride 2026 Seth Dean, Red and Weird Alnite.
Dance performances will feature Ballet Folklorico Sangre de Mexico, Dance en Masse and Grupo Huitzilopochtli.
The schedule begins at 11 a.m. with a DJ set by Frankie. Grupo Huitzilopochtli will follow with a dance performance, along with additional DJ sets and drag performances throughout the afternoon.
Among the scheduled highlights are performances by Mirage de la Amour, Mr. Latino Pride 2026, Seth Dean and Cosmic Allure; a performance by Haus of Infiniti; and a drag king showcase hosted by Dustin Schlong featuring Calder Goodlay, Indie Inherpants and Valintino Verde.
Mayor Mike Coffman and Mayor Pro Tem Alison Coombs are scheduled to deliver remarks during the afternoon.
The afternoon slate ends with drag performances by Cousin T, Red, Weird Alnite and Heavenly Powers before a headline DJ set by Cxrdinalis from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Beyond the stage, organizers are bringing in local artists, businesses, community services and food and cocktail vendors, giving visitors reasons to linger for the entire day rather than simply stopping by for a single performance.
The event will boast 65 different vendors for the day.
The park’s broad, open setting gives Pride room to spread out, while its playground and carousel provide attractions beyond the main entertainment program.
Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, umbrellas, their personal water bottles and containers and plenty of sunscreen for a day outdoors.
Getting there might require some planning. Winged Melody Park has plenty of ADA parking, but regular parking spaces and street parking are somewhat limited. Festival organizers are encouraging visitors to use rideshare services or carpool when possible. The venue does, however, boast hundreds of parking spaces and open space that could accommodate even more parking.
The practical considerations are part of what comes with moving a large community event into a bigger venue. But for Aurora Pride, the payoff is a setting that can accommodate the festival’s growing ambitions while keeping the focus on community, Ferreira said.
Everyone attending Aurora Pride not only gets the day’s events in a cool venue, but they also get to take in the dozens and dozens of public art pieces along the long and winding art path.
Ferreira said Saturday is actually two events back-to-back. Every year, she offers a free outdoor concert at the Umi site, a nationally acclaimed 21-foot sculpture depicting a deity or Gaia figure “blending a woman’s body and hair with tree roots and intertwining branches,” according to the official art description.
This year, when Aurora Pride ends at 7 p.m., the concert starts at Umi with two performers.
Umi becomes a concert venue with acoustic guitarist Michael Cer from 7 p.m.–9 p.m, followed by a Gospel House set by Pameluv until 10 p.m.
At sunset, Umi comes to life with a projection lighting show that runs until 11 p.m.
IF YOU GO
DATE: Aug. 29, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. with aftershow until 10 p.m. Aurora Pride after party at Charlie’s in Denver, 900 E. Colfax Ave.
PLACE: Winged Melody Park in The Aurora Highlands 23578 E. 38th Place
COST: Free to enter. Various prices for food, drink and purchases
DETAILS: aurorapride.com
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