“SaMo Pride” to Bring Inaugural Festival and “Colors of Pride” Installations Alongside Community Events

Santa Monica is gearing up for its month-long SaMo PRIDE celebration in June, aimed at honoring the LGBTQ+ community. The citywide partnership between Santa Monica Place, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., Santa Monica Pier, the City of Santa Monica, and Santa Monica Travel and Tourism will offer a range of events and experiences. The first-ever SaMo PRIDE Festival on June 3 will turn the entire downtown district into a PRIDE zone, with live music performances, PRIDE-related treats, free swag, games, and activities for all ages.

In addition to the SaMo PRIDE Festival, the celebration will continue throughout the month with a variety of events. The Made with PRIDE Marketplace, a unique retail pop-up, will be hosted every Friday through Sunday in June at Santa Monica Place. The Marketplace showcases over a dozen LGBTQ+ business owners, highlighting their stories and featuring local goods and services made, conceived and curated in Southern California. Live DJs will spin every weekend throughout the month, and there will be a series of educational and uplifting events, including theater and dance performances, Rainbow Family Storytime, and a PRIDE sunset swim at the Annenberg Community Beach House.

The City of Santa Monica is dedicated to increasing visibility and understanding of the broad spectrum of gender identities and experiences within the LGBTQ+ community. The month-long celebration includes the lighting of City Hall in rainbow colors and a series of community events, such as the PRIDE Proclamation, an AIDS LifeCycle Ride finish line celebration, Queer Prom for LGBTQ+ youth, and

Drag Queen Storytime. The Santa Monica History Museum will feature the exhibit

“Coming Out West”, a video-based collection of oral histories of Santa Monica Bay area LGBTQ+ elders. SaMo PRIDE is an opportunity to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in the community and to promote acceptance and understanding for all.