Pride Houston expands 2024 calendar to include fall festival in Montrose

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If sweltering summer heat has kept you from celebrating Pride in the past, a new decision will likely bring you some sweet relief.

Pride Houston 365 announced Monday it has filed permits for a 2024 fall festival in Montrose, adding to a jam-packed calendar of LGBTQ+ Pride events next year.

The festival, slated for Oct. 5, 2024, will feature everything you'd expect from Pride, minus the scorching hot temperatures, president Kendra Walker said.

"The sun can be really, really unbearable for us and really unhealthy for a lot of people of our community, and they want to celebrate Pride, too," Walker said.

SEE ALSO: Pride Houston 365 unveils plans for 2024 LGBTQ+ parade and festival

After years of debate from within the community, Pride Houston's board approved the additional celebration as a way to increase education and awareness of LGBTQ+ issues.

"Our whole mission is to remove barriers to celebrate Pride," Walker said. "We want to make Pride accessible for everyone in the community."

In addition to live entertainment and vendor booths, Walker said visitors to next year's fall festival will experience an atmosphere that can only be found in Montrose.

After increasing congestion over the years and to the disappointment of some, Pride Houston moved its parade and festival from Montrose to downtown in 2015.

"We can't put Pride in June - it's way too big - back in Montrose, but that doesn't mean we can't have a great fall festival in Montrose," Walker said.

Pride Houston previously hosted a Montrose Block Party in 2021, after COVID-19 shut down the annual Pride celebration two years in a row.

The location of the fall festival has yet to be announced. We'll bring you more details as they become available.

The 46th Pride Houston parade and festival will return downtown on Saturday, June 29, under the theme "You Won't Break Our Pride."

Early bird registration for the 2024 celebration closes on Dec. 31.

For more information and to volunteer, visit PrideHouston365.org.

ABC13 is proud to serve as Pride Houston's official media partner.