The largest gay pride event in New England, and one of the most popular on the Eastern Seaboard, Boston Gay Pride takes place each year in mid-June - in 2009, the main parade, festival, and neighborhood block parties take place the weekend of June 13 and June 14, but there are a number of related community events held throughout the prior week (including a Pride Day Celebration at Faneuil Hall), held Saturday, June 6.
Book rooms and compare rates at hotels in Boston during Gay Pride
Here's a look at the main events that comprise Boston Gay Pride:
Gay Pride celebrations in Boston officially kick off at noon, Friday, June 5, with an official Flag Raising at Boston City Hall Plaza (9 Cambridge St.).
The following day, Saturday June 6, at the city's iconic Faneuil Hall Marketplace, there's entertainment and shopping in Quincy Market during Pride Day at Faneuil Hall, which takes place from 10 am until 5 pm. Faneuil Hall is located at 1 Faneuil Hall Square. If you're looking for a fun place to eat or explore afterwards, check out Boston's famed Little Italy neighborhood, which is a short walk away in the North End.
Saturday, June 13, is the most prominent day of Boston Pride Week. At noon, the Boston Gay Pride Parade commences at noon, departing from around the intersection of Tremont and Clarendon streets, in the city's most gay-identified neighborhood, the historic South End. The parade winds northeast, then north on Berkeley Street into the Back Bay, where it turns east onto Boylston Street and passes by the famed Boston Public Garden and the posh (and very gay-friendly) Four Seasons Boston. It then turns left onto Charles Street, heading north alongside the scenic Boston Common, before turning east on Beacon Street and passing before the Massachusetts State House, then winding around Tremont Street and Cambridge Street to end at Boston City Hall. This is one of the more popular and scenic gay pride marches in the country, drawing enormous crowds and passing before some of the city's most prominent sites.
Also kicking off at noon on Saturday, June 13, the Boston Gay Pride Festival takes place at City Hall Plaza, right where the parade ends. At the festival, you can watch a number of top entertainers, visit with more than 100 business vendors and community groups, and mingle with hundreds of fellow participants.
On Sunday, June 14, the fun continues with a pair of GLBT Block Parties, held in two of the city's most gay-popular neighborhoods, the South End and Jamaica Plain. In the South End, the Stuart Street Block Party takes place along Stuart between Arlington and Berkeley streets, from noon until 8 pm.
Over in Jamaica Plain, affectionately known as "JP", the Jamaica Plain Block Party takes place on Perkins Street, between Centre Street and South Huntington Avenue.
Additionally, numerous bars as well as gay-popular restaurants, hotels, and shops have special events and parties throughout Pride Weekend. Check the website of Bay Windows - New England's largest LGBT newspaper, as well as online New England Blade, for details. Also check out my Guide on Gay Boston, and for general travel information, look no further than Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
