Can't-Miss Gay Events in Florida for 2016!

The Sunshine State is known for its beautiful weather, kind and generous people, white sandy beaches, and unforgettable nightlife and parties. There are so many things going on here that it might be hard for you to keep up with everything! I've come to the rescue with a comprehensive list of can't miss gay-related events this year.

Pride Celebrations, Festivals and Parties

Over 120,000 people attended Miami Beach Gay Pride last year, which shattered past records. This year pride weekend is April 8-10, culminating in a parade along Ocean Drive in the Art Deco district. Broward County is home to such a large gay community that there are two pride celebrations. The first is the Wilton Manors Stonewall Street Festival and Parade, which will bring thousands to Wilton Manors on June 18. Then there's Pride Fort Lauderdale, which jumped from February to October last year, and is expected to become a permanent early October favorite (around National Coming Out Day). Pridefest of Lake Worth and the Palm Beaches is the pride celebration for Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, and attracts over 20,000 people. It will be held on March 19 and 20 this year.

Come Out with Pride Orlando has grown over the past decade to become one of the biggest prides in the Southeast. Over 150,000 people attended last year. Orlando's pride parade and festival will be held on October 8 this year, with a few days of events hosted in the run-up to the largest day. St. Pete Pride debuted their pride parade at night in 2014 to rave reviews, and from what we hear, that won't be changing, although the parade route probably will (now that Georgie's Alibi has gone out of business). This year the parade will be held on June 25 and the festival will take place the next day, June 26. Tampa Pride was a big success when it returned last year, so naturally it will be returning to Ybor City on March 26.

A slew of pride celebrations happen in the autumn months of September and October. Space Coast Pride in Brevard County will take place on September 24. Sarasota Pride is traditionally held at J.D. Hamel Park in the third week of October. Gainesville, Jacksonville, Ocala, and Volusia County will all be celebrating pride in October. Lakeland and Key West will be celebrating in June: Polk Pride will be held from June 15-19, and Key West Pride will be held from June 8-12.

Celebrate Orgullo celebrated its fifth anniversary last year with a month of events, and next year will have a similar setup: mark September 1 to October 1 on your calendars if you want to attend. Miami Beach Bruthaz is a celebration of pride for the black and Latino community and will occur this year from July 14-18. Then of course there's a special weekend for the bears, who will be heading to Miami Beach for the first time for BeachBear Weekend, after years in Fort Lauderdale Beach. This year's tentative start date will be in the first week of May. Other bear pride events include the International Bear Bash, which will be held this year in Orlando from September 20-25, followed by the Bear Bust at Parliament House in Orlando from October 20-24.

Gay Disney Week in Orlando is another favorite event which brings hundreds of thousands to Orlando to enjoy great circuit parties and the Walt Disney World theme parks. That will go on from May 31 to June 6. The One Magical Weekend family of events will be held from June 3-5.

Music and dance reign supreme in South Florida in March with the arrival of three popular celebrations: the Winter Party Festival, the Winter Music Conference and the Ultra Music Festival. The Winter Party Festival benefits the National LGBTQ Task Force and will be held this year from March 2-7. The Ultra Music Festival comes to Miami for three days from March 18-20, and Winter Music Conference starts in Miami Beach right after, beginning on March 21 and running through March 24.

Equality Florida Galas

Equality Florida works tirelessly to further LGBT rights in the state of Florida, and they also ensure people faced with discrimination can receive justice and regain their dignity. Equality Florida's galas raise money for the organization and also recognize inspiring voices for equality in our community.

The Palm Beach Gala is the first Equality Florida gala of the new year, and will be held at Lake Pavilion in West Palm Beach on February 11. Following that is the Tampa Gala on February 20; it will be held once again at TPepin's Hospitality Centre. The Miami Gala will be held at 1 Hotel South Beach on March 13. The Key West Gala will take place at the Gardens Hotel for another year and the date for the 2016 gala will be March 19. There are three more galas in spring: the Tallahassee Gala at Mission San Luis on April 23, the Pinellas Gala (formerly known as the St. Petersburg Gala) at the Mahaffey Theater on May 7, and the Gainesville Gala at the Historic Thomas Center on May 14.

Venues and dates haven't been selected yet for the remaining galas, but keep them in mind anyway. The Jacksonville Gala should be held the final week in September (as it was in the two previous calendar years) and the Orlando, Broward and Sarasota Galas will be held in November (if last year was any indication, in that order).

Local Events, Galas and Mixers

The HIV/AIDS service organizations across the state of Florida couldn't do their job as well as they do without help from the community. White Party Week, in late November, is a large fundraiser for Care Resource. The SMART Ride, also in November, raises money for quite a few HIV/AIDS service organizations in Florida. Dining Out for Life, in late April, raises money for a number of organizations in South and Central Florida, such as Broward House, AIDS Service Organization of Pinellas, and FoundCare's CAP. Dates range from April 21 (Palm Beach) to April 30 (Broward).

Spirit of Hope Receptions raise money for Broward House three to four times a year: the next one has not been formally announced but should occur in late winter or early spring. The Hope and Help Center of Central Florida's signature event is the Headdress Ball: this year's event dates are not finalized yet but expect this year's celebration to be held in October. Metro Wellness and Community Centers' largest fundraiser (called "Gala Rouge" in 2015) was moved from September to November in 2015, and the upcoming fourth annual event may occur in that same time frame.

We would be remiss if we didn't mention the various AIDS Walks that raise money for all of the organizations listed, plus many more. AIDS Service Organization of Pinellas benefits from the AIDS Walk Tampa Bay (December). AIDS Walk Orlando benefits Hope and Help and will be held this year on April 16. AIDS Walk Miami benefits Care Resource and will be held this year on April 24. The Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival on Fort Lauderdale Beach is held each March and benefits a number of organizations such as Broward House, The Pride Center at Equality Park, SunServe, Latinos Salud, and others. Another organization that holds an annual fundraiser walk/run is the Zebra Coalition, which helps homeless LGBT youth in Central Florida. Their Zebra Run always occurs the Saturday morning of Come Out with Pride Orlando parade and festival (October 8 in 2016).

The Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce hosts "spotlight mixers" and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce's Gay and Lesbian Business Exchange (GLBX) host similar mixers. Compass, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Palm Beach County, hosts Pride Business Alliance mixers on the fourth Wednesday of every month. The Metropolitan Business Association of Orlando (MBA) hosts monthly mixers and the Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce hosts monthly dinners. MBA's luncheons are hosted quarterly.

Awards season is year-round. The Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce hosts the Diamond Awards on January 16, and the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce hosts their annual gala (named after a different color or stone; last year it was named "Sapphire") in late June. MBA Orlando has moved their Pride Business Gala to August after many years of presenting it in April. The LGBT Visitor Center of Miami hosts the Pink Flamingo Awards every September. SAVE will be recognizing their Champions of Equality in early May, and their up-and-coming Luminaries of Equality in late August or early September.

Community centers and other service organizations hold galas to raise money to further their good works in the community at large. Compass's Stonewall Ball is held the last weekend of every June in West Palm Beach, with that specific date commemorating the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The Cocktails for Compass event is another large fundraiser for the organization and is held in Palm Beach in the middle of December.

Pridelines Youth Services presents their annual Masquerade Ball each August (this year's date is August 13). The Pride Center at Equality Park's fundraiser, Evening in Paradise, is traditionally held in late February. A funny send-off on the Latin "coming of age" ceremony benefits SunServe; Julian Cavazos' Reverse Quincea�era has been held for the last few years every September. The Tampa Museum of Art holds their Pride & Passion fundraiser each year and it is very well-attended; this year's Pride & Passion will be held on April 23. The SAVE Halloween Ball occurs in the last week of October every year and serves as a fundraiser to help further equality and unity in Miami-Dade County.

The Leather Masked Ball, organized by the Leather Men's Brotherhood, raises money to give back to the South Florida community. 2015 was the first year it was held at Rumors Bar & Grill. Look for this South Florida favorite to return at the end of November. Then of course there's the very popular Wicked Manors, held every Halloween night on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, which helps to raise donations for The Pride Center at Equality Park.

Film Festivals and Concerts

If you love films, you'll love the film festivals in Florida, because all of the award-winning independent favorites are screened here. The Miami and Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals have merged together to become one organization, "MiFo LGBT Film Festivals." They will still present two separate film festivals, one in Miami (April 22-May 1, 2016) and one in Fort Lauderdale (October 7-16, 2016). The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival screens movies across Tampa Bay in the first two weeks of October. Finally, there is the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, which screens all of the hottest independent films in all genres in both Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. This festival spans across two weeks in the middle of November.

Quite a few talented performers of interest to the gay community will be traveling to Florida this year. Mark Cortale's Broadway at Parker Playhouse series began with Audra McDonald and Will Swenson on January 2 and will continue with Lea DeLaria and Varla Jean Merman on February 13. Two gay-friendly shows will be presented in the Broward Center's Abdo New River Room: Diva Diaries (January 6-31) and Diego & Drew Say I Do (March 31-April 10). The South Florida Symphony has begun another season, and the full calendar has been scheduled: the next two performances are Beethoven's 9th "The Choral" on January 23 and 1001 Nights on February 24, both at the Broward Center. Island City Stage has moved to its own venue in Wilton Manors and has three shows lined up for the rest of the season: Who Killed Joan Crawford? (January 14-February 14), The Submission (April 7-May 8), and Feeding the Bear (June 2-July 3).

The South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble's next Broward Center performance is titled "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and will be performed on June 3. The Miami Gay Men's Chorus's next performances will be titled "Tyler's Suite" and "I Am Harvey Milk," and will be performed on May 20-21. The Gay Men's Chorus of South Florida will be hosting a Gala Fundraising Brunch at Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale on January 17. Una Voce's next concert, Love, Hope, Passion, will be held on May 20 at St. Petersburg College.

As far as pop music goes, this year is shaping up to be very exciting! Madonna starts off the year with a two-night engagement at the AmericanAirlines Arena on January 23-24. Rihanna arrives in Florida in March to perform at three venues: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (March 12); Amalie Arena (March 13); and AmericanAirlines Arena (March 15). Ellie Goulding performs three long-awaited tour dates back-to-back: Amalie Arena (June 2); AmericanAirlines Arena (June 3); and CFE Arena (June 4). Less than a week later, Selena Gomez will sing at the Amway Center (June 10), followed by a peformance at the AmericanAirlines Arena (June 11). Justin Bieber's latest world tour brings him to Florida just before the July 4th holiday, with performances at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (June 29), Amway Center (June 30), and the AmericanAirlines Arena (July 2). Maroon 5 continues their V tour with two more Florida stops: the AmericanAirlines Arena on September 7 and the Amway Center on September 9. Finally, Adele will perform in Florida for the first time in five years, spending two nights in Miami at the AmericanAirlines Arena (October 25-26).