<p>For the 55th year, Chicago's Pride Parade is stepping off to celebrate the city's LGBTQ+ community.</p><p>This year's theme, "Free to Be Proud," comes amid increasing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community across the nation — including in Illinois, which is largely considered a haven for queer people in the Midwest.</p><p>"It acknowledges that equality is not yet universal and that many in our community still face barriers to safety, dignity, and self-expression," the parade's organizers said in a statement.</p><h3>What is the parade route, and how can I navigate the area?</h3><p>The parade will step off at 11 a.m. Sunday at North Sheridan Road and North Broadway, and will go south on Halsted Street, east on West Belmont Avenue, south on Broadway and east on West Diversey Avenue to Sheridan to disband.</p><p>Pedestrian crossings will be available on Halsted Street at West Addison Street, West Cornelia Avenue and West Buckingham Place. On Broadway, pedestrian crossings will be Briar Place and West Wellington Avenue.</p><p>For attendees looking for an accessible viewing area, 600 West Diversey Avenue has accessible bathrooms and ADA accomodations.</p><p>City cooling buses will be at the following locations:<br></p><ul class="rte2-style-ul" id="rte-88395572-7105-11f1-a17f-29d67891ec04"><li>Addison west of Halsted</li><li>Roscoe west of Halsted</li><li>Belmont east of Broadway</li><li>Wilton north of Belmont</li><li>Waveland between Broadway and Halsted</li><li>Belmont westbound between Halsted and Clark</li></ul><p>More information can be found on the <a class="Link" href="https://pridechicago.org/chicago-pride-parade-2026-what-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank" >parade’s website</a>.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="HtmlModule"><a class="AnchorLink" id="html-embed-module-e50000" name="html-embed-module-e50000"></a><div class="flourish-embed flourish-map" data-src="visualisation/29503479"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script><noscript><img src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/29503479/thumbnail" width="100%" alt="map visualization" /></noscript></div> </div> </div><p></p><h3>How do I get there?