New group hosting Pride festival in Ybor City after former event canceled

New organization to host Tampa Pride Festival

Tampa will get a Pride festival in 2026 after all. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports. 

YBOR CITY, Fla. - Tampa will get a Pride festival in 2026 after all.

A new organization has sprung up to host a festival after it was announced that the group called "Tampa Pride" would not be holding its usual event in the coming year, given the financial and "political climate."

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What they're saying:

The new organizers, from a group called "Pride of Tampa" said the parade and festival are too important for the community to go without.

The previous group announced that they no longer had enough money to pay their executive director, given losses in local, state and federal grant funding. They also cited the anti-DEI policies pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"Pride of Tampa" said their event is scheduled for March 28, 2026 in Ybor City.

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"It's a feeling of pride, equality, belonging, family," said Aaron Horcha, the vice president of Pride of Tampa. "We really need to have pride every day, and we need to have visibility every day. But unfortunately, that's not necessarily the case. A lot of our people are alienated with their family and friends and so forth. We just really have to come together and be proud."

The backstory:

The festival will be held in light of events over the past year that some in the LGBTQ community said served to squash their right to free speech. Several pride murals were painted over after the governor said the "commandeering" of public roads would not be tolerated.

After canceling the 2026 event, the previous group, Tampa Pride, did not say whether they would be holding a pride event in 2027.

Horcha said that it is working with the non-profit P-Flag Riverview to raise the necessary funding for the festival.