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Boston Pride 2025: What to know ahead of the parade, festival, protest
More than 1 million people are expected to convene in downtown Boston on Saturday for the city's annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebration.
This year's event theme is 'Here to Stay,' according to Boston Pride for the People, the organization that runs the parade and festival.
'Our theme, 'Here to Stay,' is a bold declaration of LGBTQIA+ resilience and pride in the face of growing hostility,' President Adrianna Boulin said in May when the theme was announced. 'There are those who wish we would disappear — go back in the closet, quiet our voices, and surrender the rights we've fought so hard to claim. But we won't be bullied, backed into silence, or erased. We've never bowed to hate, and we're not about to start now. We're here to stay.'
Boston Pride for the People organized its first event in 2023, taking over from the previous Boston Pride organization that disbanded in 2021. According to the nonprofit, more than 1 million people attended in 2023 and 2024.
You can find information about what's happening on the event website, but here's what you need to know for this weekend's festivities.
The annual Boston Pride celebration will be held on Saturday, June 14. The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 12:30 p.m., followed by a festival on Boston Common from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a 21+ block party at City Hall Plaza from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The parade will be staged on Boylston Street, with the official start of the route at the intersection of Clarendon Street and St. James Avenue, next to Trinity Church. The route will follow Clarendon Street before turning left onto Tremont Street, then left on Berkeley Street, right on Boylston Street and left on Charles Street, marching between the Boston Common and Public Garden. The parade will finally enter the festival on the Common, where it will end.
The festival on Boston Common will be headlined by New Orleans singer and rapper Big Freedia.
Local acts RLETTO, The Iconic Divas, QWAM, Booty Vortex, Tallulah Cirque and Richard Parris & The Band will also perform. The festival will be emceed by Andre Issacs, Amanda Shea and Curtis Santos.
The festival will also include hundreds of vendors.
The City Hall Plaza block party, which is free but only open to visitors 21 years old and up, will also have a slate of performers and will be emceed by Rocky Graziano. Local performers will include Harlow Havoc, Rose Quartz, Olivia Moon, Angel, UpRise Dance Crew, Lezzie Borden and Aubrey Pleaser, and Fae Risque Collective.
The block party will also have DJ sets by DJ ZoilaRosa Z and Javes, and 'ambient' performances by Connor Jocktober, Dark Beauty, Taylor Neptune, Timi and Will Allen, according to the website.
The block party will also offer beer, wine and seltzers from New England breweries including Dorchester Brewery, Gay Beer, Provincetown Brewery and DrawDown Brewery.
It is highly recommended that attendees take public transportation to get to Saturday's events, as streets on and near the parade route will be closed starting early Saturday morning and parking will be limited.
For the parade, attendees can take the MBTA Green Line to the Copley Square, Arlington Street or Boylston Street stations or the Orange Line to Back Bay. For the festival on Boston Common, the closest stations are Park Street on the Green or Red Lines and Downtown Crossing on the Orange Line. For the block party, the closest stations are Government Center on the Green or Blue Lines and Haymarket on the Orange Line.
If you are driving or taking a rideshare service, such as Uber or Lyft, the event organizers suggest factoring in extra time for traffic and parking. You can book parking ahead of time on the event website via SpotHero.
'No Kings' protests across the country have been organized for Saturday to coincide with President Donald Trump's birthday and a military parade planned in Washington, D.C.
In Boston, there will not be a separate rally, but Mass 50501, part of a national movement organizing protests in all 50 states, has encouraged people to join the Pride celebration with protest signs. The group will march in the parade and will have a booth set up at the festival on the Common.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
