Festival Exhibitor Updates

Festival Weekend Info

Please read the Exhibitor Participation Packet for more information. More detailed instructions for loading in and out of the festival will be available closer to June.

Festival Layout and Booths

FAQS for Festival Exhibitors

How do people helping with my booth gain entry?

If trying to access the festival ground before the festival opens, there may be limited gates by which you can access the festival grounds. Please listen to security and event staff or volunteers at the gate. Exhibitors will receive information on load-in for Saturday morning. If you are loading in supplies or materials on Sunday morning, in addition to Saturday morning, please let Karianne know. With the parade there are special times for load-in on Sunday.

During festival hours, people that are staffing your booths will need to go through one of the festival gates and security. If lines to gain entry to the festival are long, please have your booth volunteers/staff go to the front of the line and identify themselves and the booth they are working for to gain entry. There is a suggested donation of $10 at the gate, but no one is required to donate to gain entrance to the festival.

There are three entrances to the festival. The Ash Street entrance on the north end of the festival, the Pine Street entrance, and towards the south is the Harvey Milk Street entrance. Please have everyone who will be working/volunteering at the festival read the Portland Pride FAQs. It provides additional information on parking and what can be brought into the festival.

Can we bring our own food and drinks? Can we bring ice?

Yes! You can bring your own snacks, food, and non-alcoholic beverages. Due to OLCC regulations, there are no open beverages allowed to be brought in to the festival grounds. Water bottles and open containers must be emptied before entering the festival grounds, see our Portland Pride FAQs. Please no alcoholic beverages or cannabis edibles, these are regulated by the OLCC and not allowed to be brought into the festival. Ice is allowed in coolers brought in by exhibitors. There are water filling stations located in the festival grounds, but we are not able to provide ice to exhibitors.

What can we do at our booth?

Festival exhibitors are able to sell products and services, accept and collect donations, hand out unopened pre-packaged samples, and offer water for free. Many booths give away swag or plan activities to engage festival goers. There is no cannabis or alcohol permitted at exhibitor booths. For a full list please refer to the Festival Exhibitor Rules and Regulations. All activities must be contained within your 10x1o booth footprints.

Are tables and chairs included?

Each booth receives two chairs. Corner booths received two 8’ tables, and inline booths receive one 8’ table. You are allowed to bring your own tables, chairs, booth setup. If you do not need your tables or chairs please let Karianne or volunteers at the Info Booth know and we can have them removed.

Is my booth covered?

Booths are covered by large canopies. If you have a 10x10 tent/pop up canopy you want to use to hang things from, those may fit under the large canopies.

Can I use a branded tent?

Booths are covered by large canopies. There is no space for exhibitors to setup stand alone tents. Branded tents that are 10x10 or smaller may fit under the larger canopy and allow for hanging of backdrops or banners.

Can we leave our booths unattended during festival hours?

Booths must be staffed and open Saturday, July 20th from 12:00PM - 8:00PM and Sunday, July 21st from 11:30AM - 6:00PM.

Security

Security is present overnight, but vendors are responsible for securing their belongings. We are not responsible for items left unattended. Pride Northwest works with our security team and the City of Portland and has a robust safety plan in place. In the event there are any safety concerns at or near the festival please alert a security person or a Pride Northwest staff or volunteer. This ensures the information gets to our security team so we can handle any issues if they arise. It is not uncommon for there to be protesters outside the festival, we ask that folks do not engage with them. 

Security is a top priority for Portland Pride. While we are unable to share many specifics about the details of our security plan, we work closely with local law enforcement, emergency response folks, and private security for the event. We also engage local peacekeeping and de-escalation teams to help ensure that direct confrontation with community members is minimized and/or eliminated. Our community is most safe when we are together in large numbers, and work in collaboration to keep each other from harm.