6 Pride festivals you can still catch this year
Pride Month is over, but the celebration continues at these festivals and parades across the globe.
Mark
Pride Month is done and dusted, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until June to celebrate with your chosen family again.
While the majority of festivals and parades take place during the summer, there are a handful of cities across the world whose celebrations arrive just as the sunny months are wrapping up.
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From dancing in the desert to meeting a man in Manchester, if you can’t wait to fill your heart with a little more queer joy, you’ll certainly find it just a plane or train ride away.
Pack your bags, we’re going on an adventure
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Here are 6 Pride festivals you can still catch this year...
1. Austin, Texas
The community in Austin, Texas, gets a lot louder (and gayer) on Saturday, August 23, for Austin Pride. This year’s parade and festival are rooted in both celebration and activism, with the powerful theme of Silence =
It’s a community-focused year for the city, which wrote that while the political climate has affected their funding, they’re “not going anywhere.” And nothing can stop the party with performances by Drag Race alum Kerri Colby and Salina EsTittes and headliner, Saucy Santana.
2. Manchester, England
If you’re a fan of the O.G. Queer as Folk, you already know that one of the friendliest gay communities outside of London is Manchester. Accordingly, Manchester Pride is a whopping days-long celebration, stretching primarily from August 22 to 24.
Their multi-venue Pride includes the Gay Village Party (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) featuring rides, a silent disco, and performances by B*Witched, Sister Sledge, and Danny Beard, as well as the brand-new Mardi Gras festival (Saturday and Sunday), featuring Olly Alexander, Leigh-Anne, Billy Porter, and Nelly Furtado.
Of course, the most infectious, can’t-miss event is when the gays take over the streets for The Love Parade on Saturday.
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas Pride organizes around National Coming Out Day Weekend with a Pride parade like no other. On Friday, October 10, the LGBTQ+ community takes to the streets at night, kicking off at 7 pm. So, bring your glow sticks, gays!
The party continues Las Vegas style with a free rave on Saturday, with headlining DJs like Shea Coulee, and an all-ages festival on October 18.
4. Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia‘s annual Pride in October is the largest LGBTQ+ event in the South. This year’s festival in Piedmont Park runs from October 11 to 12, with a parade on Sunday, top-notch talent (last year’s event featured Ava Max and Monét X Change), and culminating in Starlight Cabaret, the largest outdoor drag show in the country.
5. Phoenix, Arizona
Each year, over 55,000 people visit Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix, Arizona for Phoenix Pride. Considering the high desert temperatures are finally giving the gays a break, there’s no better time to be outside than their weekend festival from October 18 to 19.
The Grand Canyon State’s celebrations include a parade kicking off on Sunday morning, food trucks, vendors, kids’ and adults’ zones, and headline entertainment by acts like Big Freedia and Todrick Hall.
6. Palm Springs, California
You haven’t celebrated Pride until you’ve spent five days of fun in the desert. As far as celebrations go, Palm Springs‘ event is one of the year’s latest, running from November 6 to 9. But that means the palm-lined party goes even harder, with four days of street fairs and music festivals, and a nearly two-hour-long parade on Sunday morning.
Find more Pride events across the world here.
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