Celebrate Pride Month in Philly with these 13 events

Get your calendars ready — Philly is pulling out all the stops for Pride Month this June.

While the Philly Pride march and festival in the Gayborhood on June 4 is all the buzz, it’s not the only party in the city decked out in rainbows.

For local poet Kate Carey, Pride is “every part of my being now that I’m starting to become myself.”

Carey began a queer poetry night in 2019 at the former Front Street Dive after attending an overpriced reading at a local bar. Her “Slutty Poetry Night” is now a regular free event at Tattooed Mom.

“When I was still unraveling my queerness, a lot of my poems were about sex,” she said. “And I didn’t feel comfortable at some open mics — I went to an event at this fancy bar and it was like $12. I remember thinking, $12 is a lot of money for me and a lot of other people, so I got the wheels turning [for Slutty Poetry Night].”

Carey hosts the safe space for poets to share their sex positive writings at the Queen Village restaurant this month.

“I’m just really, really excited to just be out in the community with more queer artists and poets and everything this summer,” she said.

Being outside with their friends is how Ab Gibson celebrates Pride.

With partner Alyssa Rose, Gibson returns to Fishtown with Philly Queer Flea, a boisterous market of local queer vendors at Mural City Cellars’ wine garden, this month. The two used to sell at Brooklyn Queer Flea and decided to feed the “huge appetite” for queer markets in Philly with their own. The success of last year’s inaugural market made way for Gibson and Rose to bring back the fun this year with three flea markets.

“Philly Queer Flea is a space run by queer makers for queer makers in the most beautiful spot in Fishtown,” Gibson said. “What’s better than being outside with queers in the good weather?”

» READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2023 Philly Pride march and festival

Visit a wildlife refuge for some weeknight bird watching with Philly’s Queer Birders. The group invites you to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum on June 15. Catch summer nesters and a few late migrants. No registration is required and there will be plenty of binoculars to share. Check social media for updates and more information.

📍8601 Lindbergh Blvd., 🌐 phillyqueerbirders.com, 🕒 June 15, 6 to 7:30 p.m., 🎫 Free

Work on your knitting, crochet, mending, embroidery, whatever fiber art in this inclusive queer-friendly knitting group at Queen Memorial Library on Federal Street and 21st Street. The group, led by head librarian Kate Eckert, is for LGBTQIA-identifying adults or allies with some knitting and crafting skills.

📍 1201 South 23rd St. (Entrance is on Federal St.), 🌐 libwww.freelibrary.org, 🕒 June 15 and 29, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. , 🎫 Free

The Franklin Institute celebrates Pride with two back-to-back events, the Science After Hours: Summer Ball and Family Pride Day.

On June 16, the Summer Ball will have music, dancing, live performances like Philly Cheer Elite, rooftop stargazing, and more. For the second year, the adult event theme is “self reflect(ive)” to focus on mental health and self-care. Tickets are online for $40 per person in advance ($45 at the door), which includes featured programming, evening access to the institute exhibits and galleries, limited edition Summer Ball lapel pin, roof deck access for guided stargazing and city views (weather permitting), and food and drink for purchase at stations throughout the museum.

Family Pride Day is June 17 with whimsical shows and demonstrations that combine science and drag. There will also be a screen print of a coloring book page with Second State Press, microbes to explore, and more. The event is included with museum admission.

📍222 N, 20th St., 🌐 fi.edu, 🕒 June 16, 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. and June 17, noon to 4 p.m., 🎫 $40

PFLAG Philly, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, hosts their second annual PrideTeenth festival celebration, centering on Black LGBTQ+ families. The festival on June 17 at Lovett Park celebrates family, community, and freedom as Juneteenth and Pride Month intersect. The nonprofit aims to create a space to recognize Black and queer Identities equally.

📍6945 Germantown Ave., 🌐 pflagphilly.org, 🕒 June 17, noon to 4 pm., 🎫 Free

Walking down Frankford Avenue, the Philly Queer Flea is hard to miss. Mural City Cellars, NKDC, and Fishtown BID will host this summer outdoor market in their wine garden on June 17. Music by Solar Sounds plays as you peruse local vendors with queer art, apparel, home goods, and more. Sip on wine from Mural City Cellars’ big trolley.

📍2211 Frankford Ave., 🌐 instagram.com/phillyqueerflea, 🕒 June 17, 2 to 8 p.m, 🎫 Free

Take a tour through Philly’s queer history with Beyond the Bell Tours this month. Learn about the evolution of Pride from protest to parade, the longest continuously operating LGBT-focused bookstore, activist Barbara Gittings, and more as you explore Philly’s Gayborhood. The two-and-a-half hour tour begins at Stir Lounge and ventures to other queer-owned bars for $39 per person.

📍1705 Chancellor St., 🌐 beyondthebelltours.com/tours/pride-bar-crawl, 🕒 June 17, and 24, 5 to 7:30 p.m., 🎫 $39

SAGA, a program of The Welcome Project PA, hosts its third annual Bucks-Mont PRIDE Festival at the Abington Art Center. There will be live music, food, community resources, and family-friendly activities. Tan Hoang, Philly-based stand-up comedian, actress and performer, will MC with guests including Positive Movement Entertainment Drumline, entertainer and songwriter Jakeya Limitless, reigning Miss Gay Pennsylvania America Kali Coutour, and others. Free parking will be available.

📍515 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown, 🌐 bucksmontpride.com, 🕒 June 25, noon to 5 p.m., 🎫 Free

What if the punch line was your awkward one-night stand? Comedy show Awkward Sex ... and the City returns to Punch Line Philly for Pride Month on June 28. Grab a drink and watch New City storytellers relive their embarrassing sexual experiences. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are online for $24.25 to $32.25.

📍33 E. Laurel St., 🌐 awkwardsexandthecity.com, 🕒 June 28, 8 p.m., 🎫 $24.25 to $32.25

Check out the Maker Series, a free monthly series at Hyatt Centric’s featuring art by local artists and makers. Philly-based artist Nahova, a self-taught queer Venezuelan artist who specializes in acrylic, oil, charcoal, paint, and fabric work is open to the public and on view till the end of July.

📍1620 Chancellor St., 🌐 hyatt.com, 🎫 Free

Drink the rainbow at 13 venues with Cocktails for a Cause. The monthlong fundraiser from FCM Hospitality donates proceeds to local queer charities. Order a drink that matches a color of the all-inclusive LGBTQ rainbow flag and $1 will be donated. Participating restaurants include Liberty Point, the Garden at Cherry Street Pier, the Dolphin, Morgan’s Pier, Craft Hall, Parks on Tap, Rosy’s Taco Bar, Harper’s Garden, Lola’s Garden, NoChe, Concourse Dance Bar, Juno, and Walnut Garden.

📍 Multiple locations

Glu Hospitality’s Bagels & Co. locations support Philly Pride with $1 to William Way LGBT Community Center for every rainbow bagel sold in June.

📍 Multiple locations

Fishtown’s brewery releases a limited edition beer #loveislove. Sip on cans of the strawberry blonde ale for crisp strawberry flavor all month long at the Lab in Fishtown. It will also be offered on limited release in drafts at the Lab and Evil Genius Beer Garden. A portion of sales will be donated to the Trevor Project, a national organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide-prevention services to LGBTQIA+ youth.

📍 1727 N. Front St.

Sofitel Philadelphia will be decorated with rainbow flags this June. Inside, explore the LGBTQ Hall of Flags. Celebrate the different facets of the local queer community with the exhibit, which showcases the Lesbian Pride Flag, Gender Fluid Pride Flag, Binary Pride Flag, Pan Sexual Pride Flag, Transgender Pride Flag, and the Bisexual Pride Flag.

📍 120 S. 17th St.