Pride weekend: Drag March, Harlem Pride, Dyke March, NYC Pride, and Queer Liberation March

The final weekend of June is packed with Pride events across the city, from the Dyke March on Saturday night to the NYC Pride March and the Queer Liberation March on Pride Sunday.

Here’s a general roundup of six main events:

DRAG MARCH

The busy weekend kicks off on Friday with one of the highlights of Pride season. The annual Drag March is set to return on Friday night, June 28, for yet another year. Marchers will gather at 7 p.m. at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village before stepping off at 8 p.m. 

It is not yet clear where this year’s Drag March will end, but last year it concluded at the Stonewall Inn. The Drag March, which draws drag artists of all backgrounds, dates back to 1994.

HARLEM PRIDE

Another key event on the schedule this Pride weekend is Harlem Pride, which takes place at noon on Saturday, June 29 on 12th Ave. and W. 133rd St. 

Dominique Jackson, who is best known for starring as Elektra Abundance on the hit show “Pose,” is co-hosting the event alongside activist, actor, and author Marquise Vilson. Entertainers include Billy the Goat, Damez, Gia Love, Siaira Shawn, Alicia Kelly, Big Body Kweeng, Lyfe, Daesha Richards, Noah Lee Richards, Jchris, Damarcko, and Waylon.

DYKE MARCH

After Harlem Pride, make your way to Fifth Avenue for the Dyke March, a longstanding annual march that takes place the night before Pride Sunday. This year’s Dyke March, slated for June 29, will step off from Bryant Park at 5 p.m. This year’s theme, Dykes Against Genocide, focuses on condemning violence taking place in several parts of the world, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine. The march will conclude, as usual, at Wasington Square Park.

PRIDEFEST

The Pride Sunday street fair known as PrideFest will showcase exhibitors, food, and activities, along with performances at StageFest. Based in Greenwich Village near Union Square Park and One Astor Plaza, PrideFest begins at 11 a.m. 

NYC PRIDE MARCH

The NYC Pride March — the city’s main Pride March — will begin at 11 a.m. at 25th St. and Fifth Ave. The march will move south on Fifth Avenue before heading west on 8th Street, crossing over Sixth Avenue past Christopher Street and the Stonewall National Monument. The march will turn north on Seventh Avenue and conclude at 16th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to the MTA.

The march will be broadcast on WABC7.

The grand marshals at this year’s march include Miss Major, a trans activist who participated in the Stonewall Uprising; Raquel Willis, a trans activist and author who released a book last year called “The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation”; and DaShawn Usher, a Bronx native who serves as senior director of communities of color and media at GLAAD. Three more grand marshals in the Youth Activist category: Baddie Brooks, a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter; Eshe Ukwell, a reporting fellow at The 19th*; and Robin Drake, a 24-year-old Afro-Latino trans man from Brooklyn and member of the Hetrick Martin Institute.

Read more about other events produced by Heritage of Pride at NYCPride.org.

QUEER LIBERATION MARCH

The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer Liberation March, which was first held in 2019 as an alternative march without corporate sponsors or police involvement, also takes place on Pride Sunday. 

Marchers will assemble at Sheridan Square 11 a.m. before stepping off at 11:30 a.m. and marching to Battery Park. This year’s march is labeled as the Queer Liberation March for Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Gender Non-conforming, and Non-Binary Youth and against War and Genocide, according to the Reclaim Pride Coalition.