Russian River Pride

Russian River Pride is Guerneville's own pride, run by a small all-volunteer nonprofit in the gay resort town on the Russian River in west Sonoma County. The main event is a free parade down Main Street at noon, followed by a festival downtown, with a week of smaller events around it.

Guerneville went several years without its own pride. Sonoma County Pride moved its main celebration to Santa Rosa in 2017. Volunteers brought a parade back to Guerneville in 2023 with a mid-October weekend hosted by Cleve Jones, Brian Hughes and Juanita More, which raised about $70,000 for local causes. It has been held in September since. The organisers say they have given more than $80,000 to local nonprofits since 2024.

The 2026 edition ran from 16 to 20 September under the theme "Let It Flow". At the parade on Saturday 19 September, the grand marshal was Jim Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the 2015 Supreme Court marriage case and co-owner of a wine tasting room on Main Street. Deidre McCalla headlined the music, and the Press Democrat reported thousands of people filling downtown. Pride After Dark followed at the River Theater, and Sunday had a brunch and a pool party at R3 Hotel. The 2027 dates hadn't been announced when we checked.