I had been to Los Angeles a few times before, but hadn’t explored much of anything else around it, thinking there probably wasn’t a lot of interest for a gay traveller like myself outside the City of Angels. Turns out I was missing out on the 3rd largest Pride parade and festival in the state by not going just half an hour down the road to Long Beach!
My friend Samantha lives in LA so she joined me for the weekend to check out all the fun. Besides the impressive parade and festival there were drag shows, beach time, night clubbing, and yummy meals to round out my time there.
These photos were shared on my Instagram account and the video at the top is from my YouTube channel. I only spent a short time time in Long Beach, but it was a warm and sunny few days with a ton of other LGBTQ visitors – many of which told me they regularly come down from LA or West Hollywood for it, which tells you something about Long Beach Pride when guys are coming from those gay meccas to check it out too!
My video about my visit is also airing on OUTtv, Canada’s national LGBTQ TV station, in between their regular programming, so if you have that station you could also see it on there! From where I stayed to the where I ate and everything in between, you’ll be able to see it all in that episode.
Here’s a list of the places I went to and things I did during my visit:
– Hyatt Centric
– Hamburger Mary’s
– Beach Garden Social House
– Pride Festival
– Wheel Fun Rentals
– BO-beau
– Mine Shaft
– Pride Parade
– The Auld Dubliner
– Pride Headliners
– Cafe Sevilla
I had a great time in Long Beach and found everything to be quite convenient to get to during the Pride weekend. I mostly walked from one thing to the next or just took short Uber rides to get around. The festival had a ton to see and do so I also spent a lot of time there, and it lasted for two full days. It’s definitely worth a visit when you’re in California!
Disclaimer: This experience was provided by Visit Long Beach, but they had no input on my writing and all thoughts are my own.