Photo Gallery: 2026 LGBTQ pride celebration in Urbana

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Sixteenth annual event includes parade and booths featuring 150 community organizations along Race and Main Streets.
  • Photo: Reginald Hardwick/IPM News

Thousands celebrate LGBTQ pride in Urbana

Sixteenth annual event includes parade and booths featuring 150 community organizations along Race and Main Streets.

Parade entrants included local schools, political, community, and media organizations, including Illinois Public Media.

  • Champaign native and professional basketball player Hope Elam-Huett served as 2026 grand marshal of CU pride parade on October 17, 2026. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • An MTD bus displays a LGBTQ pride banner and electronic message during 2026 CU pride parade on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Participants in the CU pride parade in Urbana on October 17, 2026 in Urbana. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
  • Community organizations set up booths along South Race Street during the CU pride celebration on October 17, 2026. (Reginald Hardwick/IPM News)
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Reginald Hardwick

Reginald Hardwick is the News & Public Affairs Director at Illinois Public Media. He oversees daily newscasts and online stories. He also manages The 21st Show, a live, weekday talk show that airs on six NPR stations throughout Illinois. He is the executive producer of IPM's annual environmental TV special "State of Change." And he is the co-creator of Illinois Soul, IPM's Black-focused audio service that launched in February 2024. Before arriving at IPM in 2019, he served as News Director at WKAR in East Lansing and spent 17 years as a TV news producer and manager at KXAS, the NBC-owned station in Dallas/Fort Worth. Reginald is the recipient of three Edward R. Murrow regional awards, seven regional Emmy awards, and multiple honors from the National Association of Black Journalists. Born in Vietnam, Reginald grew up in Colorado and is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Email: rh14@illinois.edu Twitter: @RNewsIPM