The 2026 Spokane Pride Parade & Festival drew tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Spokane and Riverfront Park this past weekend, creating a significant economic impact as attendees spent money at hotels, restaurants, retailers, and other businesses throughout the weekend.

"It is absolutely a shot in the arm for the local economy," says Kate Hudson, director of public relations and communication for Visit Spokane.

Visit Spokane has identified the Spokane Pride Parade & Festival as one of the largest events hosted in the city, and Hudson says events of that size create meaningful economic activity for businesses here.

Spokane Pride's Executive Director Matthew Danielson, a 2025 Journal of Business Rising Star, estimates over 50,000 visitors from throughout the Inland Northwest and elsewhere showed up to the celebration this year. Official visitor totals won't be confirmed until early July, he notes.

While Visit Spokane does not have a specific economic impact study for Spokane Pride, Hudson points to other major regional events as indicators of the spending generated by large-scale gatherings. Bloomsday, for example, is estimated to have generated between $15 million and $19 million in economic activity for the region, Hudson says. This year, the 12K race tallied over 43,000 registered participants and more than 3,000 volunteers, race organizers reported.

Hoopfest is another event expected to boost the economy. Last year, Hoopfest drew an estimated 226,000 attendees, Riley Stockton, executive director of Spokane-based nonprofit Spokane Hoopfest Association told the Journal in December. The three-on-three basketball tournament, scheduled June 27-28, contributes an average of $47 million to Spokane and surrounding areas annually.

"Any time you bring 50,000 or more people into one place, it's going to stimulate local businesses," Hudson says. "People need places to stay, places to eat, transportation, and things to do while they're here."

The impact of the festivities extends across multiple sectors, she says, including hospitality, restaurants, retail stores, entertainment venues, and transportation providers.

"It also creates a safe and welcoming place for the Pride community to gather and celebrate," Hudson says. "That's important from both a community and tourism perspective."

This year's Pride celebration featured a parade, festival activities, entertainment, a dance party, and hundreds of vendors spread throughout and nearby Riverfront Park. The event has grown dramatically since Danielson first became involved more than a decade ago, he says.

His first involvement with Spokane Pride occurred in 2013 when he was helping run sound operations for the event. By 2016, when he took on a larger role as the event emcee, attendance was around 5,000 people, he says. Over the past decade, attendance has increased drastically, a trend Danielson attributes to consistent organizational growth and expanding regional visibility.

Spokane Pride now bills the event as the largest Pride celebration in the Inland Northwest, drawing attendees from Eastern Washington, North Idaho, western Montana, and surrounding areas, he says.

"We've grown with intention," Danielson says. "We've grown through marketing, through community outreach, and through creating events that businesses and attendees want to be part of."

Pride festivities currently span two days of activities and include 250 vendors. Spokane Pride utilizes nearly all of Riverfront Park and has evolved into one of the largest public gatherings in the city, Danielson says, adding that if it gets any bigger, it will have to become a three-day event.

An event of this scale is difficult to organize and the work is outgrowing current available staff, Danielson says of his team of organizers.

"Moving forward, I am going to have to put time into hiring another staff member," Danielson says. "This year, it was very clear we need more boots on the ground for organizing our events. Granted we have hundreds of volunteers that help with the muscle, but we need more paid staff to help coordinate."

Spokane Pride currently operates with two paid employees, Danielson says. This year, 400 volunteers showed up to help with the Spokane Pride Parade & Festival, he says. 

The economic impact extends beyond the festival grounds, Danielson contends. Beyond the immediate influx of revenue from visitors, the celebration sparks a lasting economic ripple effect; as staff and vendors earn wages during the festivities, they likely are reinvesting that income back into businesses here, sustaining the momentum.

"People aren't just coming to Pride and then going home," Danielson says. "They're going to restaurants, they're grabbing drinks, they're shopping, they're staying in hotels. They're going to catch a movie, explore downtown Spokane, and spend money enjoying everything our city has to offer."

One attendee, Sydnee Harrison, says she and a group of friends traveled from Sandpoint, Idaho, for the celebration. The group stayed overnight on Friday to be here for the parade on Saturday.

"This is my fourth year attending," Harrison says. "My friends and I mainly come to hang out and watch the parade, but having all of the vendors and stores downtown makes shopping pretty convenient."

Spokane Pride actively encourages attendees to support businesses throughout the surrounding community during their stay, Danielson says.

"We want them enjoying Spokane and helping the entire community benefit from the event," he says.

For downtown businesses, the influx of visitors can provide a substantial increase in customer traffic over the weekend. The continued growth of Pride weekend shows increasing regional support and highlights Spokane's ability to host large-scale gatherings that attract visitors across the Northwest, he says.