June is Pride month, honoring the LGBTQ+ community’s accomplishments and acknowledging the challenges still ahead. Pride traces its roots to an uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn in 1969. Since then, it’s evolved into a multitude of expressions—from parades and parties to panels and protests.
For the first time since 2019, celebrations will be held fully in person, making this a time to reconnect with friends, family and allies. And while it’s observed the world over, there’s nothing like commemorating Pride in New York City, where it all began.
Read on to get all the details of the March, which attracts around 150,000 participants and millions of attendees, as well as an array of events that reflect the diversity of the five boroughs: concerts, exhibitions, plays, film screenings and youth gatherings among them.
Brooklyn Pride. Photo: Brittany Petronella
June 11
Park Slope hosts one of the only twilight Pride parades in America, with grand marshals Mark Caserta, the head of the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, and the Rainbow Heights Club, which provides affirming mental health services to LGBTQ+ individuals.
Earlier in the day, the borough’s Pride festival fills Fifth Avenue between Union and 9th Streets with music, drag performances, food and crafts. Bringing the little ones? Old Stone House will host family-friendly activities like music, face painting, arts and crafts and storytelling.
Youth Pride. Photo: Megwan Cao
June 12, noon to 5pm
Brooklyn Pride hosts its first Youth Pride celebration at Littlefield in Park Slope. It’s a chance for LGBTQ+ youth (and allies) ages 13 to 20 to have a space exclusively for them, with live performances, carnival games and a mini drag ball.
June 12
Why should Jackson Heights, site of the Queens Pride Parade (which took place June 5), have all the fun? Join queer Astorians for a drag show at Albatross, followed by a sashay to Icon via Kween, the neighborhood’s newest gay watering hole. Expect live shows, giveaways and drink specials lasting well into the night.
June 17
Baseball’s New York Mets take on the Miami Marlins for their Pride Night, and fans can get a limited-edition Mets Pride hat. A portion of proceeds benefit anti-bullying initiatives in New York City public schools.
June 17, 7pm
Not the athletic type? Catch free performances from beloved operas by stars of the New York City Opera in Manhattan’s Bryant Park.
Bronx Pride Week Festival. Photo: Brittany Petronella
June 18, noon to 6pm
The capstone event of Bronx Pride Week (June 14–18) is hosted by Drag Race finalist Kandy Muse and Karyn “Mercedeze” Blanco from Netflix’s The Circle and features performances by Seduction, House of Miyake-Mugler, Sinia Alaia and Antaeus. It all happens on Westchester Avenue between Brook and Bergen Avenues.
Through the week, Destination Tomorrow, the Bronx’s grassroots LGBTQ+ agency, is sponsoring live performances, movie screenings, a cookout in Crotona Park and a celebration honoring local leaders with Bronx borough president Vanessa L. Gibson.
June 17
DJ and trans activist Honey Dijon and “2 On” singer Tinashe headline this “intentionally queer” outdoor music festival at East Williamsburg’s Avant Gardner. Curated by nightlife diva Ladyfag, the event also features sets by Sevdaliza, Shygirl, Namasenda, Stiletto and TR/ST—plus “stunts” from Drag Race favorite Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
June 21–24
This annual theater series at Lincoln Center presents works by queer artists from countries that censor or criminalize LGBTQ+ identities. This year’s lineup includes a staged reading of East African playwright Muleme Steven’s Courage Rebirth (June 21), three short works by Kenyan writer Jonathan Wamukota Opinya (June 22) and Achiro P. Olwoch’s The Survival (June 24), about a gay Ugandan couple who hope a young woman will serve as their surrogate.
June 23–26
All Pride weekend, Raw Honey has curated events for queer women of color, trans and gender-nonconforming folks. The fun starts June 23 with a 30-and-up dinner party at Harlem’s B Squared, followed by a Femme Seduction party at the Sultan Room in Bushwick on June 24 with performances by Roze Royce, DJ Kye and Neesh Black.
On June 25, it’s a “late night situation” at Emblem in Williamsburg, hosted by Body Hunter, King Curiosity and London, with beats from DJs Spinelli and Luna Rosa. On June 26, step up to the mic at the Queer Ass Karaoke and Family Affair at East Williamsburg’s Club Lambda.
June 25, 5pm
As organizers of this event are fond of explaining, the Dyke March is a “protest march, not a parade,” so don’t expect school marching bands or corporate sponsors. The event kicks off at Bryant Park on Fifth Avenue and makes its way to the fountain at Washington Square Park. Anyone who identifies as a dyke is welcome, “regardless of gender expression or identity, sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, race, age, political affiliation, religious identity, ability, class or immigration status.”
June 25, noon to 6pm
Check out performances on the main stage and family-friendly events like Drag Queen Story Hour, plus a variety of community and public health resources. It all takes place at Twelfth Avenue and West 135th Street.
June 25–26
One of NYC Pride’s biggest draws, this two-day music festival on Governors Island features headliners Lil’ Kim and Kim Petras, plus performances by Eurovision winner Netta, Brit Award nominee Raye, dancehall queen Shenseea, queer art collective Papi Juice and DJs Eddie Martinez, Dani Toro and Alex Chapman.
June 26
Promoter Jake Resnicow has brought together electronic duo Galantis, singers SG Lewis and LP Giobbi, and Drag Race stars Aquaria, Gottmik and Violet Chachki for a 12-hour party at Avant Gardner. Resnicow has also teased a performance by a “surprise pop star” (it’s anyone’s guess who, though Cher, Jennifer Lopez, Cyndi Lauper, Janet Jackson and Madonna have all made impromptu appearances at NYC Pride in the past).
Pride March. Photo: Walter Wlodarczyk
June 26, noon
Grand marshals TS Madison, Punkie Johnson, Schuyler Bailar, Dominique Morgan and Chase Strangio join host Angelica Ross and an estimated 150,00 marchers from nonprofits, schools, community groups, religious organizations and corporate sponsors at America’s largest LGBTQ+ celebration.
The procession kicks off at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street and meanders south down to Christopher Street before turning back north and dispersing at Seventh Avenue and 16th Street in Chelsea. Join the millions cheering on from the sidewalks—or the millions more at home watching.
June 26
Envisioned as an alternative to the main Pride March, the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s noncommercial procession kicks off in Lower Manhattan at Foley Square and heads up Sixth Avenue to Washington Square Park. Drawing nearly 50,000 participants, the march is billed as a peaceful procession “with no regimented contingents, no corporate sponsors and neither NYPD control over decision-making nor uniformed police marching.” The fourth annual event will spotlight trans and BIPOC freedom, bodily autonomy and reproductive justice in light of the Supreme Court likely overturning Roe v. Wade.
June 26, 11am
NYC Pride’s annual street fair returns to the East Village, spreading along Fourth Avenue between East 8th Street and 13th Streets and including an all-ages FamilyFest at Astor Plaza.
Full of community groups, local merchants and food trucks, PrideFest is free and open to the public. But with a $60 PrideFest Passport, you’ll get a “curated path” through the street festival, including access to the viewing platform for music performances and entry to the Passport Lounge, plus a gift bag and unlimited beverages and snacks.
Bliss Days. Courtesy, NYC Pride
June 26, 2pm
Previously known as Femme Fatale, Bliss Days returns after a two-year hiatus, raising the roof at Harbor Rooftop in Hell’s Kitchen. NYC Pride’s “annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ womxn” features sets by DJ Spinelli, Tru Violet, Boston Cherry and Rhonda Rox, plus dancers, pop-up performances and special guest appearances.
See our NYC Pride guide for more Pride-related events, activities and stories.
