SF Pride says 2026 event could look different amid financial shortfall

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Pride is looking for solutions as its financial troubles grow.

The annual celebration of San Francisco's LGBTQ community lost big sponsors earlier this year -- and now, it's losing funding from the city.

It's been nearly one month since wrapping SF Pride 2025 and event organizers are warning next year's event could take a hit amid a funding shortfall.

"I can assure everyone we're not going anywhere, but there are some hard decisions to be made," said Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride.

Ford said, despite a successful crowd size, lagging alcohol sales and more are making it tough.

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The organization is considering scaling back on some of the performances and other entertainment next year.

"Expenses for entertainment have gone way, way up. And our revenue that we're seeing from our donations at the gate, it rose this year. It's just not enough to keep pace with the cost," Ford said.

Now, SF Pride is taking another blow -- from the city.

It usually pitches in $150,000, but San Francisco leaders cut that out of the city's budget.

"We have a long-term budget shortfall that we need to address. We need our government and workforce to get smaller, and we need to pair back our grant making, so there are very difficult times. We need to do more with less," said San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey.

Dorsey is the vice chair of the budget committee and says, despite the challenging times, Pride should be a priority.

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"I'm going to tell you, there's a few events in San Francisco that really mean a lot to the bottom line, because of the amount of people that they bring to our city, the amount of economic activity that they generate. LGBTQ+ pride is one of those," he said.

The supervisor suggesting tacking on a fee to help close the funding gap.

"There are some cities that have pride events, events that they charge. And we'll probably end up meeting somewhere in the middle, where we charge a little more and supplement a little less," Dorsey said.

Meanwhile Ford says she's committed to keeping as much of the event free as possible.

"I want it to stay that way. That's really kind of the fabric of San Francisco, is that Pride is free, and I want to find some creative ways to make sure that still happens," she said.