Riverside's Inland Empire Pride Festival 2025
May 10, 2025
Riverside's Pride Festival had the most loving atmosphere I had ever felt. It was my first ever Pride event. I almost cried, I smiled the whole time, it was everything I thought it would be and more. And they had some seriously talented vendors. I would personally like to give shoutouts to Riverside Front Runners & Walkers and Magnolia Lemons. The Front Runners are a running group and they were super kind to me when offering me to join them for a run they're going to next week. Magnolia Lemons is a super talented maker of different things. When I saw them at the festival, I was super attracted to their adorable aprons! They're cheaply priced for being handmade and they were super sweet to me and offered to let me try one on when I was there.
The Event!
The entire festival was beautiful. They had a lot of photo spots, an all-queer Mariachi Band, a DJ in the gazebo, there was lots of open space to take a rest in the shade! There was also a ton of vendors, so there was a variety of things to look at. I loved the pop music they were playing—I could easily pick out Sam Smith's Unholy, lol!
White Park!
White Park was WAY too hot and humid for this event. I could only attend for 2 hours 'cause my back was killing me and I was sweating like balls. The tents, while not the host's responsibility, were cramped and had no fans, so going inside one was game over for my lungs.
Besides that, they cleaned up the park very well, the vendors were spaced out well, and there were trash cans all around the walkways! Cute photo spots too <3 I wish I could take the giant inflatables!
Gifts and Merch!
Like Universal Fan Fest Nights and GO Tour: Unova, I brought a crap ton of bracelets and gave them out to anyone who complimented me! I also offered them to vendors this time! I'm trying to break out of my shy shell a little bit. Everyone was super nice. I had stickers too, but since I had the bracelets, they were way easier to trade off. I also did my first PLUR handshake! :D
I saw an amazing apron from Magnolia Lemons that I was dying for, but I decided to pass on it this time. I absolutely will come looking for them again or even visit their online shop! There was also a church vendor who let me make a free button. I had my dad put a little heart on it, and then I did stars! (Duh)
A lot of vendors were actually handing out a lot of free knicknacks. I got a Jolly Rancher, a wooden pride ornament, a small water bottle—what I got the most of were business cards and pamphlets; One of them being resources for youth, haha! I look good for my age, I guess!
What I really wanted was a shirt from the event organizers itself, so after walking the entire park, we headed back to the front of the park and took a look at what they had. I liked their yellow "Together we are unlimited" shirt, so we got one in small. OOPS. I prefer large LOL. I just thought that was all they had, since it was the only one on the table, I asked for small... Their purple colored shirt was also pretty!
Gallery!
