An estimated one million people will be attending the San Francisco Pride festivities this weekend, including the Civic Center festival on Saturday and Sunday, and the parade up Market Street.
San Francisco, which boasts a metropolitan area with the highest percentage of LGBTQ people of any major city in the country, regularly hosts one of the biggest Pride celebrations on the planet. And things kick off tonight with an SF Pride block party on Annie Street and at the Dawn Club, near Market and Kearny Streets. That kicks off at 5 pm.
On Friday, June 27, we will have the 21st annual Trans March. The Trans March starts from Dolores Park, where there will be a rally beginning at 3 pm, and the march starting at 6 pm. The moving video below features some of the rally speakers from last year, and images from the march, which travels down Market Street to the Transgender District, and the corner of Turk and Taylor — the historic site of Compton's Cafeteria, and the 1966 riot that helped kick off the LGBTQ civil rights movement.
There is also a Friday night celebration in the Castro marking 10 years since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, starting at 6 pm.
Saturday, June 28, brings with it the Dyke March, which as we discussed earlier this week, returns in full force this year after five years of smaller, unofficial Dyke Marches. It will also begin with a rally and generally large gathering in Dolores Park that starts at 11 am. The march, as planned, starting around 5 pm, will make a circle down 18th Street to Valencia, and up 16th Street to Market, then down Castro and back down 18th.
Supporters should be aware that it is Moby Dyke Night tonight at Moby Dick bar in the Castro, which is a fundraiser for the Dyke March — which still needs to meet its fundraising goal to cover costs for this year's march. The event goes from 6 pm to 10 pm.
In Civic Center on Saturday, the annual SF Pride Fest begins, and a slate of performers will fill all the various stages from noon to 6 pm.
Saturday's Kaiser Permanente Main Stage headliner is Michaela Jae, aka MJ Rodriguez of Pose fame. Local drag star Grace Towers will be hosting, and 90s dance music diva Ultra Naté will be performing, as well as Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars contestant Daya Bettie.
On Sunday, the Main Stage at Civic Center will feature rapper and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Saucy Santana, as well as Rupaul's Drag Race frequent guest judge TS Madison, and Canada's Drag Race Season 1 winner Priyanka.
In the parade on Sunday, as discussed earlier, comedy writer Harper Steele from the Netflix documentary Will & Harper will be a celebrity grand marshal. The parade kicks off at 10:30 am at the foot of Market Street, and will conclude sometime in the afternoon.
The theme of this year's parade festival is "Queer Joy Is Resistence," and SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford tells NBC Bay Area, "This year, it's a revolutionary act if you show up at Pride. And we need to send a message. We need everyone to come out on Pride Sunday."
Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press event that Pride Weekend is "a true example of San Franciscans coming together for their values."
Top image: Photo via Getty Images
