NYC's best Pride events for 2025, from the marches to concerts

NYC Pride 2025's theme is "Rise up: Pride in Protest." It's a more defiant stance compared to recent years. "As the LGBTQIA+ community faces increasing hostility and legislative attacks, this year’s theme is a reflection of the Pride movement’s origins in protest—and is a powerful call to action for our communities and allies to rally and march in defiant celebration, advocacy and solidarity," their website reads. President Joe Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been named as one of the grand marshals for the NYC Pride March.

Here's the full guide to the march on Sunday, June 29, including where to see it, what time to arrive and the lineup of grand marshals.

Back in the 1970s, there was a common rallying cry at early LGBTQ+ marches: "Out of the closets! Into the streets!" An exhibit at The Hispanic Society Museum & Library borrows that refrain for its title as it brings together 18 photographs by Francisco Alvarado-Juárez that highlight the chaotic and colorful vitality of this first iteration of Pride.

The photographs of the 1975 and 1976 marches showcase the racial and ethnic diversity of the movement and reveal the nuanced bonds of kinship formed among marchers from disparate backgrounds. In these early days, Pride was a local effort in New York City known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March or the Gay Liberation Parade. Held as a direct response to the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, the events were a call for increased queer visibility at a time when New York still enforced so-called "sodomy" laws that facilitated the repression of the LGBTQ+ community.

See the exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in Washington Heights through August 31, 2025. It's free to visit.

Take your pride to the park this June! Presented by NYC Parks' Stonewall Society, Queer in Nature is on display at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park through August 22. The free and open-to-the-public group exhibition features works by 15 artists highlighting the abundance of queerness in everyday urban and natural environments.

Created by the likes of Ben Eshleman, Brien Mosley, Diane Matyas, Ella Mahoney, Kayleen Berry, Noah Bassman, Sachie Hayashi, Shantell Martinand more, the featured artworks "emphasize that cohesion and unity can be found in complexity and diversity" as they connect the queer experience to the natural world. 

Queer art is under attack, which means that if there's ever been a time to support LGBTQ+ artists, it's probably now. Luckily, despite the de-funding of queer programs across the country, the Queerly Festival will be back for its 11th year at UNDER St. Mark's (94 St Marks Place) and you can expect a slate of performances highlighting queer joy and resistence from June 12 until July 3. 

Whether it's a one-woman show exploring current affairs through the perspective of two gay boys, a Drag History Hour that recounting the story of the Harlem Renaissance, or a play about a trans girl who leaves sex work to return home to her estranged mother, the performances will run the gamut from the defiant to the hilarious and heart-wrenching. Make sure to check out FRIGID's website for the full schedule and programming. 

Miss Hell's Kitchen is more than a pageant, it's a movement. And beginning this summer, that movement—a fundraising series that brings together top drag talent from NYC and beyond to raise crucial funds for HIV / AIDS awareness and prevention—is popping up at Romer Hell's Kitchen for a monthly drag show.

In celebration of NYC Pride weekend, the collaboration kicks off on Friday, June 27 at 8pm for an evening of glitz and glamour with Sabel Scities, crowned queen of Miss Hell’s Kitchen 2024, taking center stage. Each month, Sabel will spotlight sensational talent from the drag world; for example, her star-studded June show will see appearances by RuPaul's Drag Race alum Jackie Cox and nightlife legend Bootsie LeFaris, the first crowned winner of Miss Hell’s Kitchen in 2012.

Future installments of the series will take place on July 24, August 21, September 25 and October 9.

The Empire State Building's tower lights will shine in the rainbow colors of the inclusive Pride flag on Sunday, June 29, coinciding with the date of NYC's Pride March.

The Empire State Building has been an icon since it opened in 1931 as the world's tallest building. Though the landmark may have lost its No. 1 height status, it's remained a beloved destination with incredible views of the city. The tower's lights change colors to honor holidays, special occasions and special causes. Thanks to a state-of-the-art LED system, the lights glow in a dazzling palette of 16 million colors with limitless combinations. 

Take your movie-going experience to the next level this summer at Rooftop Cinema Club. The experience offers a chance to watch a movie on a Midtown rooftop with vegan popcorn, classic theater candy, and craft cocktails.

For Pride Month, screenings include But I'm a Cheerleader, The Color Purple, Showgirls, and more. As part of Pride Month, $1 from every Pride screening ticket will be donated to The Trevor Project. Get tickets here.

For Pride Month, a group of celebrated contemporary artists (Derek Fordjour, Jacolby Satterwhite, Tourmaline and Egyptt LaBeija) are reimagining the New York City AIDS Memorial to "honor and illuminate the stories of underrepresented figures within the HIV/AIDS movement," from Black horse jockeys to disco trailblazer Sylvester.

"Through their work, they boldly bridge timelines, intertwining the electrifying pulse of the Parade Garage, the ongoing fight for dignity and justice in Memphis, and the triumphant legacy of ballroom legend Egyptt LaBeija," says Kinfolk co-founder Idris Brewster.

The memorial exhibition is currently on view at St. Vincent's Triangle.

Moxy Hotels is once again going all in on Pride, with a packed schedule of events this June across all five of its NYC properties. 

The headline event is “Pride for the People,” a post-parade block party hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, Xunami Muse. Taking place at Moxy Chelsea on June 29, the party includes DJ sets, live performances, on-site makeup from Stencil1 and a signature cocktail called Pride Punch. Tickets are $10, with all proceeds benefiting The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI).

Grab a ticket here.