APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN · HELP CREATE OCTOBER 24
THE BIG
GAYBORHOOD
GATHERING
What if the community isn’t the audience?
What if the community is the event?
SATURDAY, 1O/ 24/2026 · 1–6 PM · BIXBY PARK, LONG BEACH
FREE · ALL AGES
Bring a picnic. Bring your people. Bring something only you can add
A GATHERING IN THE PARK
THAT WE CREATE TOGETHER.
Bring a picnic and spend the afternoon with us in Bixby Park. Explore community camps, interactive art, local performers, and LGBTQ+ makers and creators. Join an activity, build one, or offer a gift freely—a skill, a story, a small keepsake, or a moment of kindness. Come as you are and participate your way.
You don’t have to organize anything to attend.
LONG BEACH
WE LISTENED.
You told us what you love, what you miss, what matters the most, and what you want more of.
We heard you, and we’re still listening. October 24 is a chance to create something together—and help shape Be Proud! Fest 2027 to be the Pride celebration we want.
FOUR WAYS TO MAKE THE DAY.
Every one of these is an invitation. Come as you are and participate your way.
EXPRESS
DON’T HOLD BACK.
SHOW UP FABULOUSLY.
Come dressed as a walking work of art. Go big, loud, wild, glamorous, colorful, strange, or completely unexpected. Create a look that turns heads, decorate your picnic to match, and make the park your runway. Take up space. Play. Transform. Show us your Radical Self-Expression.
DO
DON’T JUST WATCH.
JUMP IN.
Try a craft, join a game, dance along, meet someone new, add to an artwork, or lend a hand at a camp. One small action can change the day for you and the people around you. Participation changes the energy of the whole day.
GIFT
OFFER SOMETHING.
EXPECT NOTHING.
Gifting means sharing something freely, without expecting a return. Bring a small keepsakes, story, joke, activity, bracelet, necklace, talent, or simple act of kindness. The gift is the connection it creates.
CREATE
DON’T WAIT FOR IT.
BUILD IT TOGETHER.
Turn an idea into something people can experience. Create a camp, activity, artwork, performance, or shared space—or help bring someone else’s idea to life. Nothing here has to be created alone. Collaboration is part of the experience. Bring an idea. Join an idea. Create The Day Together.
WHAT TO EXPECT
CAMPS · ART · PERFORMANCES · MAKERS
Discover community camps with games, crafts, conversations and surprises. Join art you can enter, change or help complete. Catch short participatory performances across the park, and meet LGBTQ+ makers and vendors.
THE EXPERIENCE IS COMING
An interactive centerpiece is taking shape with ideas and contributions from the community. Join the updates for the reveal.
CHOOSE YOUR PART.
Attend, build, share, support. Pick a way that feels like yours.
ATTEND & RSVP
Bring a picnic, explore and join as much or as little as you like. Please RSVP to receive updates and to help us calculate the estimated attendance.
CREATE A CAMP
Dream up a welcoming spot with something guests can do, make, learn, share or experience.
CREATE AN ART EXPERIENCE
Propose immersive or interactive art visitors can enter, respond to, change or help make.
PERFORM
Bring a performance that invites participation and connection in one of several park spaces. There is no main stage.
JOIN THE MARKET
Share original goods or locally made work as an LGBTQ+ maker or supportive business.
VOLUNTEER
Welcome guests, support camps and artists, or help care for the park. Short shifts let you enjoy the day.
SPONSOR OR PARTNER
Help fund the day or contribute useful materials, services or a community activity.
Applications are reviewed as they arrive. Submitting does not guarantee placement; details follow final event requirements.
WHAT IS A CAMP?
Think of a camp as a little piece of the Gayborhood Gathering you create for others to discover. It might be a five-minute craft, a game, a dance lesson, a story circle, a photo moment, a swap, a rest space, or an idea we haven’t imagined yet.
Friends, clubs, community groups, nonprofits and businesses can create one. What matters is inviting people in to do something together. You don’t need a big budget or a polished production; start with one clear idea and tell us what would help make it happen.
Make a friendship bracelet. Join a mini dance lesson. Leave a message for someone new.
ABOUT BE PROUD!
For the last several years, we’ve brought LGBTQ+ people together in Long Beach through beach takeovers, picnics, happy hours, the Big Gay Flotilla and Be Proud! Fest. You showed up, brought friends, shared your talent, volunteered, supported local businesses and made those gatherings feel like they belonged to all of us. When the Flotilla faced threats, you showed up then, too. We haven’t forgotten that.
Be Proud! exists to make more room for us: free, welcoming spaces where we can be visible, support local LGBTQ+ artists and makers, find each other and feel at home in our city.
We’ve listened to what you love and what you want more of. We’re still listening. The Big Gayborhood Gathering is a chance to create something with you and learn from the day we make together.
That’s how we want to build Be Proud! Fest 2027: with the community that has carried this work from the start. Our goal is for it to grow into the Pride celebration we all want and deserve.
Our mission is to create spaces where LGBTQ+ people can belong year-round, local artists and businesses can thrive, and our community has a real hand in shaping Pride in Long Beach.
PLAN YOUR AFTERNOON.
Saturday, October 24 · 1–6 PM · Bixby Park, Long Beach · Free and all ages.
Bring a picnic blanket or low chair, food, water and sun protection. Wear your boldest outfit or decorate your picnic area if you’d like. The park will be yours to explore and enjoy.
Arrival, accessibility, restrooms and parking details will be shared as they’re confirmed. There will be no alcohol sales or service at the gathering.
KEEP IT FREE.
The Big Gayborhood Gathering is free to attend. Your support helps us pay artists and performers, provide materials for camps and interactive art, welcome people well, and cover the practical costs of the day. Give what you can, or partner with us to help create a piece of the gathering.
QUESTIONS?
Is it free? Do I need to RSVP?
Yes, it’s free. RSVP helps us plan and send updates.
Do I have to create something?
No. Bring a picnic and participate as much or as little as you like.
What is a camp?
A small participatory space made by community members.
Can I bring a picnic?
Yes. Bring food and water, and follow posted park rules.
How do I apply?
Choose the relevant path in the section above.
What about accessibility and parking?
We’ll share confirmed details as the event plan is finalized.
THE GAYBORHOOD IS
WHAT WE MAKE TOGETHER.
SEE YOU OCTOBER 24.
1–6 PM · BIXBY PARK, LONG BEACH · FREE AND ALL AGES
