What’s the sexiest Pride event? We asked GayCities readers

Every year, it’s a question that ignites discourse, divides the community, keeps us dialed into flight alerts, and leaves the chronically online comparing lineups: What’s the best Pride event?

As part of this year’s Best of GayCities, we surveyed our most loyal readers, expecting to find a resounding consensus, only to be surprised by the global spread of festivals, parties, and parades we heard about.

Long story short, when it comes to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community with your queer brothers and sisters, you can’t really go wrong.

“I know I’m biased, but Sydney put on a spectacular show for WorldPride in 2023. The entire city felt electric. From watching Kylie perform at an open-air concert in the heart of Sydney, to a wild party literally on the sands of Bondi Beach, it felt like the whole city, locals and visitors alike, was swept up in this incredible sense of celebration. More than the individual events, though, it was the atmosphere I remember most: for those few weeks, Sydney just felt joyful. It remains one of the most memorable Pride experiences I’ve ever had, and every WorldPride since has inevitably been compared to Sydney, and with good reason.”

– Reuben Mourad, Best of GayCities editorial board

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By the numbers

Naturally, New York City received a handful of votes; the Big Apple’s celebration in June typically draws 2 to 3 million visitors, and hosted record numbers during WorldPride in 2019.

In that same vein, the “exciting” canal atmosphere of this year’s WorldPride host, Amsterdam, received callouts for its special parade, where boats filled with rainbow-dressed partygoers float down the city’s stunning waterways.

We also heard call outs for Chicago Pride (“It remains my favorite,” one reader told us), North America’s largest Pride celebration in Toronto, and Atlanta‘s annual festivities, which one reader has physically attended for 43 consecutive years.

Other responses including the “amazing” Pride in Berlin, the parties in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, San Francisco “without a doubt,” New Orleans‘ celebration in the French Quarter, and Vancouver. Of course, Taipei’s Pride — the largest and most-attended in Asia — got some love too.

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What it all means

To be fair, the variety shouldn’t be surprising.

More than 50% of all LGBTQ+ people have attended a Pride event, including more than 70% of gay men, according to a study by Pew Research Center.

Per their data, the events are more likely to be attended by those who feel like their sexuality is “extremely” or “very” important to their identity.

And more than that, we believe their existence is making a difference.

The numbers showed that queer people felt Pride events are “important to making society more accepting.”

With that in mind, the variety in responses we received felt even more special, as each one speaks to a community of queer people coming together and celebrating our freedom to love out loud.

As one San Francisco-based reader told us, “it seems unfair” to try and rank the best Pride event they’ve attended, because they “have so many.”

“We just don’t stop all year long celebrating the queer community,” they wrote. “It’s easy to become numb to the fact that we have such a special city and place to build community.”

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