Denver Pride Weekend should have felt like a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Instead, for a lot of people, it came across as a weekend where venues seemed more focused on squeezing money out of attendees than actually giving them a memorable experience.

in 2025 they robbed everyone at the wallet and booked Circuit Mom event partnerships. In 2026, we witnessed ourselves a bartender charge us $22 for a Vodka Red bull (single). he then apologized and took the credit back but it was literally the FIRST drink we had and they must be trained for this sort of rubbish. We went beck to the same bartender and he also was not good on the cash we gave him so maybe it was him. We will not mention names.

First of all these money hungry venues are after the lesbian, gay, and trans community. We are not sure what happened from 2025 to 2026 but it is extra greedy this year!!

Some will market to the LGBT community with no shame. Well ok… the clubs are less. At least with Jeffrey Sanker’s White Party VIP in Palm Springs you got a free back rub. In these small towns you get nothing. Ok, enough funny stuff… well one more.
Vintage Adam for Adam.

The year 2026 had Trixie. Previous years had.,.,.

Legendary DJ’s that have always supported the FULL LGBTQ community. Tracks also would supported Nina Flowers who we all ADORE.

oh le’ts look at X bar.. well they had an upstairs DJ for afters they went from $20 to $60 after 2am. The worst!

Ok look at Charlie’s—(Can’t talk about Gay monopolies)

We will give it to Charlies they do have amazing drag shows. What is X Bar doing??

We do have a winner of the cash grab of the LGBTQ community. X Bar is in first place with a $60 after-hours cover! We had to see this for ourselves. “Go to New York or Houston get out of Denver for Pride they just rob you of your hard earned income,” Justin Banks.

Don’t be a Barbie-Q or Vibe Kill.

The biggest problem wasn’t just that things were expensive. It was that the prices felt wildly out of proportion to what people were getting. Cover charges were high, drinks were expensive, and in too many cases there didn’t seem to be much added value once you got inside. When people are paying premium prices just to enter a venue, they expect more than the bare minimum. They expect strong entertainment, a real atmosphere, and some sense that the event was built for the community rather than just to cash in on it.

Tracks and X Bar especially drew that kind of frustration. Charging $60 for after-hours with no-name DJs, especially when they were among the only after-hours options available, felt less like a service to the community and more like taking advantage of limited choices. When people already have few places to go, price-gouging starts to feel unavoidable rather than optional.

Charlie’s also left a bad impression for a lot of attendees. Charging for VIP passes all weekend, then later dropping admission to $20 at the door, made the whole pricing structure feel shaky and opportunistic. If the value was really there, there wouldn’t have been such a gap between what people were asked to pay up front and what the venue was willing to accept later.

Lady K of Charlies commented “We heard a DJ literally play the same song to close the night every night of the weekend of the pass. We had people in town from WorldCup that were like where is Madonna #1 on the dance charts right now and the gay music?”

Charlie’s Pride events

They could’ve booked Ultra Nate for all the money they made who has always supported the LGBTQ community. She has a new song out that was better than ANYTHING the DJ played all weekend at Charlie’s. Charlie’s has a monopoly on the LGBT community though because if another business tries to get a liquor license you might just have issues in Phoenix, Denver, and Chicago.

Sold out? We walked by there and NO one was waiting in a line. We saw a fight outside that was about it and some homeless people. But go ahead and charge $60 for an after-hours.

Then there was Church/Unity, which was also charging significant money just to get inside. That raises a bigger question: what exactly are people paying for? If the answer is just access, then the price needs to be justified by the experience. Otherwise, it starts to feel like the event exists to milk the community rather than celebrate it.

The music and programming didn’t help either. There weren’t enough gay anthems, the nights felt repetitive, and in some cases the entertainment seemed like an afterthought. When the same song is used to end the night each night, it sends a message that no real care went into making the experience feel special. If Trixie was the biggest name people could point to, that says a lot about how thin the lineup felt overall.

What makes this especially disappointing is that these places have done better in the past. Tracks has historically been one of the more recognizable LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces in Denver, and Charlie’s used to feel like more than a stripped-down, state-fair-style event. That’s why this year felt like such a letdown. It wasn’t just expensive. It felt like the venues knew the community had limited options and decided to treat that like a business opportunity instead of a responsibility.

And that’s the real issue. LGBTQ+ spaces are supposed to feel like safe, joyful, welcoming places. They’re supposed to build community, not just extract money from it. When venues start acting like Pride is just a seasonal revenue stream, people notice. And once that trust is damaged, it’s hard to get it back.

Denver still has people who care deeply about the community and want to create better spaces. But events like this make it fair to ask a hard question: do we actually have places that serve us, or are too many of them just trying to milk us?

We call these corporate daddies out! Just what are they charging so much for in Denver that no other city is doing? We do realize that some straight-owned venues such as Beer City in Oklahoma City (basically the TicketMaster of OKC) charged over $20 for a LGBTQ pride event to hear Robyn and Lady Gaga. Are you serious? They only charge $5 to get inside the bloody RoundUp Saloon Nightclub in Dallas where Robyn actually DJ’ed. Beer City is a horrible money grab and even makes EDM nights with no DJ listed but will sell out. People are just not informed to what is going on. Travel to Dallas and hit up It’ll Do nightclub and see a real DJ perform for $10 at the most. You know the likes of the most wanted DJ Horse Meat Disco.

Beer City has the nerve to charge $20 for someone not even in the gay community. Oklahoma City is rated one of the best cities for music because of Dj’s Dezire and Bootluv and many other amazing talents. Beer City just like many of the nightclubs in Denver profited from corporate sponsors and lesbian/gay/trans money. This should be stopped.

This is the post from an Oklahoma City nightclub keep in mind they also own EVERY large venue in OKC. They are the Ticketmaster of OKC. “TOMORROW ? The Official After Party for Oklahoma Pride Alliance’s 2026 PrideFest!

Don’t be a drag, just be a queen ? What The Dance presents Dancing On My Own: Queer Pop Icons Night at Beer City Music Hall! We will be spinning your favorite hits from Robyn, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Kim Petras, Lady Gaga, Carly Rae Jepsen, Britney, Chappell Roan, Kylie Minogue, KeSha, Ariana Grande, Cobrah, Madonna, RuPaul, and more”

Are they hiring local DJ’s known for their work in the LGBTQ community no. They want MONEY!!

Beer City Music Hall vs. X Bar Denver in a money grab for the Lesbian Gay, and Transgender community.