Pittsburgh Pride 2025 begins with over 300 vendors, multiple show headliners
As the calendar turns to June, the streets of Pittsburgh are preparing to celebrate Pride.
With large parts of the city under construction, the festivities will look a bit different this year.
Pittsburgh Pride 2025 officially began in the city on Friday.
More than 300 vendors, two main headliners, a prom, a march through the city and two days packed with festivities will make for a busy weekend.
For Ryley Dascola, this weekend will be his first Pittsburgh Pride. He will be joined by his two best friends, one of whom traveled from Nebraska. They are ready to celebrate everything Pride.
'I am looking forward to spending it with friends who are here and just seeing all my favorite queens,' Dascola said.
Organizers said this will be the biggest Pittsburgh Pride weekend so far.
Pride Director Dena Stanley said festivities kick off in Oakland with The Gay Prom and, while not an official pride event, Ryley and hundreds more attended the All Out Music Festival at Stage AE.
'We have 330 vendors. It's the most we've ever had. We have 70 local artists and we have two headliners: David Archuleta and Lil Moe,' said Stanley.
The two-day festival held at the Allegheny Commons Park will host two headline shows. Archuleta plays on Saturday and Lil Moe performs on Sunday. Ru Paul's 'William' will also perform.
'This is like a recharge moment for our community, we have to do this because of what's about to come and what is already happening, how the erasure is happening, especially for trans individuals,' said Stanley.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, the Pride Parade will march from Liberty to 11th Downtown, across the Andy Warhol Bridge and into Allegheny Commons.
Stanley anticipates more than 180,000 people will participate in the parade and says the march is an important sign of unity in the face of adversity.
'This year, unfortunately, we had a lot of corporate sponsors pull out because of the political climate that we are in, but we still pulled it off.l We are still making it happen. This is what resilience looks like,' Stanley said.
Participants like Dascola agree, saying it is bigger than the celebration.
'We've got to make sure we got to get out. We've got to vote,' Dascola said.
Click here for more details on this weekend's Pride events.
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