Themed “Pride Cannot Be Silenced,” this year’s festival is set for Aug 1-3.

Festivities will kick off on Aug. 1 with the Pink Pony Prom for All from 5-9 p.m. at The Monarch. And while the prom is not a new addition, Sean Childers-Gray — board president and festival director for Ogden Pride — told the Standard-Examiner it comes with a twist this year.

“We are going to be providing carriage rides throughout the night for our youth,” he said. “They’ll be able to enjoy, at prom, a quick carriage ride around downtown Ogden and back to our host venue, The Monarch.”

Festivities on Saturday will include a community gathering and rally at the Ogden Amphitheater at 6 p.m.

“Last year, we tried to do a rally and march, but permitting and insurance didn’t allow us to do it, so we’ve just opted to gather at the amphitheater for some community speakers in leadership throughout different pride organizations in the state,” Childers-Gray said.

Following the rally will be a free performance by Glitter in the Air: The Ultimate P!NK Experience at the Ogden Amphitheater at 7 p.m.

Sunday will feature the Ogden Pride Festival at the Ogden Amphitheater and Municipal Gardens from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Childers-Gray said two stages of entertainment and around 110 vendors from food to LGBTQ+ advocacy will be present throughout the day.

Childers-Gray said that, despite the headwinds faced nationally by other Pride festivals, Ogden Pride has faired relatively well.

“Politically, it’s been difficult to sift through what’s been thrown at everybody all at once,” he said. “The fear of losing funding is never a good place to be. We have other Pride organizations across the nation that were hit harder that rely on federal grants for their services. We did lose a couple of sponsors because of the requirements from federal contracting. We didn’t lose their verbal support. We didn’t lose a lot, it was just a little tight for that end of things.”

He said bringing in volunteers was also slow at first, but that these needs have been largely met.

“I think that people were afraid at the beginning of the year of what happened throughout this new administration and that sometimes it’s a lot to take on,” he said. “We just recently posted a plea for our volunteers and I’m thankful that the community really stepped up in a big way this last week. We went from 36 applications to over 100 applications for volunteers in total now.”

Childers-Gray said it’s ultimately important to keep the festival pushing forward.

“Visibility matters to show people that they’re not alone and that if they’re feeling alone, they’re not alone,” he said. “We’ve heard the flag debate across this state and why it matters to be seen and recognized is important. The reason why we have Pride is because we still have a fight. We still have people who are trying to erase us and we still have government entities out there who are trying to remove our existence. To continue with Pride is to stand up and say, ‘We’re still here. We still matter and that you matter.’ It’s important to show and have that space for people to just be themselves.”

For more on the 2025 Ogden Pride Festival, visit https://www.ogdenpride.org/ogden-pride-festival/.