There’s a special kind of magic to waking up on Pride weekend and realizing the biggest party in Minnesota is unfolding right outside your door. That’s exactly what happens at 300 Clifton, the historic Eugene J. Carpenter Mansion tucked into the leafy edge of Loring Park — the very park where Twin Cities Pride sets up its stages, beer gardens, and 650-plus vendors every June.
If you’ve been dreaming of a Pride getaway that pairs big celebration with a soft place to land, here’s how to do the weekend right.
Pride at Loring Park — right outside our front door
The 2026 Twin Cities Pride Festival runs Saturday, June 27 (10 a.m.–7 p.m.) and Sunday, June 28 (10 a.m.–6 p.m.) in Loring Park, and it’s the largest free Pride festival in the country, drawing more than 400,000 people across the weekend. Three stages, food courts, a beer garden, and hundreds of LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC artists and makers fill the green space with color and sound.
The Pride Parade rolls on Sunday, June 28, from 11 a.m. to roughly 2 p.m., stepping off at 3rd & Hennepin and flowing down Hennepin Avenue toward Spruce — an easy stroll from the mansion. For the full lineup and stage schedule, Meet Minneapolis keeps an updated Pride guide.
Being able to walk home for a quiet moment — or to drop your tote of vendor finds and refresh before the evening — is the quiet luxury most festival-goers wish they had.
A mansion home base steps from the festival
300 Clifton isn’t a hotel; it’s a boutique bed & breakfast inside one of Minnesota’s finest examples of Georgian architecture, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hand-painted murals, carved fireplaces, and English gardens set the scene, and each distinctive guest room — from the Crystal Mansion and Grand Edwardian to the cozy Coachman’s and Blacksmith’s Forge — has its own personality. You can browse the rooms and book direct on our site, and direct bookings include a daily $20 breakfast voucher to the neighborhood Nicollet Diner — exactly the kind of fuel a long festival day calls for.
Location is everything on Pride weekend, and you genuinely can’t do better than a front porch on Loring Park.
After the parade: the garden hot tub and Gertrude’s Cistern
When the music winds down and your feet have earned a rest, the mansion has two of the best decompression spots in downtown Minneapolis.
Out back, our four-season garden hot tub bubbles away under the stars in a private, fairy-lit English garden — a dreamy way to recap the day’s best moments. And down below, Gertrude’s Cistern is our speakeasy and haunted video lounge, complete with heated reclining seats and just enough playful mystery to keep a nightcap interesting.
It’s the rare getaway where you can go from a 400,000-person celebration to a hushed, candlelit garden soak in the span of a short walk.
Make a full weekend of it
Pride is the headliner, but Loring Park sits at the center of a remarkably walkable stretch of the city. Right across the Irene Hixon Whitney pedestrian bridge you’ll find the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the largest urban sculpture garden in the country — free, open daily, and home to the beloved Spoonbridge and Cherry. The park itself, with its lake, fountain, and gardens, is worth a slow morning loop; the Minneapolis Park Board’s Loring Park page maps out the highlights.
Want to see more of the city between festival sets? A vintage Minneapolis Trolley Tours ride is a charming, low-effort way to take in the sights, and the spooky-fun Pillsbury Club — set in the haunted Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion — makes a memorable evening outing. Traveling with a bigger group or staying longer than the weekend? The furnished studios at Oakland’s on 9th are a comfortable downtown option. For more neighborhood ideas, Meet Minneapolis has a handy Loring Park guide.
Book your Pride weekend at 300 Clifton
Pride weekend is one of the busiest of the year in this corner of Minneapolis, and our rooms book up early — so if a mansion on Loring Park sounds like your kind of home base for June 27–28, don’t wait. Reserve your room at 300 Clifton and let the celebration come to you. We’ll keep the hot tub warm and the breakfast vouchers ready.
Happy Pride — we can’t wait to host you.