Your Guide to WorldPride DC Events
Starting this week, WorldPride 2025 and its partners kick off three weeks of performances, protests, and parties.
WorldPride DC 2025 begins this week, kicking off a three-week celebration of events, culminating in early June with the final weekend of Pride festivities, including the event’s iconic parade, street festival, and concert.
Starting on Tuesday, May 13, all eight “Diversity of Pride” organizations — API Pride, Black Pride, Latinx Pride, Military Pride, Silver Pride, Trans Pride, Women’s Pride, and Youth Pride — will hold a kickoff celebration promoting their upcoming programming.
That event, featuring an open bar, food from Logan Tavern, and DJ Tezrah spinning live, will be held at the Goethe-Institut, at 1377 R St NW, Suite 300, from 6 to 8 p.m. For tickets, click here.
From May 15 through June 30, D.C. will undertake the “Paint the World with Pride!” initiative, in which residents, businesses, and community organizations will be encouraged to decorate public-facing spaces, including building fronts, patios, balconies, and yards, to celebrate WorldPride and its overarching theme, “The Fabric of Freedom.”
Those who put up decorations, light displays, or art installations will be allowed to register for the event, ensuring their creations are listed on WorldPride’s interactive community map, attracting both onlookers and those visiting D.C. for WorldPride festivities. To register a creation or installation, click here.
Also on May 15, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council will participate in an official LGBTQIA+ flag-raising ceremony at the John A. Wilson Building at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are free and can be obtained by clicking here.
As part of the WorldPride festivities, the Capital Pride Alliance has partnered with Think Nimble and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to launch the “Pride365” mobile app, which serves as a local guide for WorldPride-related events, including the official Pride parade, and two-day street festival and concert, as well as LGBTQ-affirming spaces.
Users can curate event itineraries based on their specific interests and receive real-time alerts about WorldPride happenings. The app can be downloaded by searching for “Pride365” on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or by visiting pride365.org.
Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Pride will kick off its celebration with an AAPI Coalition Social Hour on Thursday, May 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Luna Hall, at 625 H St NW, Unit 103. That is followed by the Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday, May 17 at Thompsons Boat Center, at 2900 Virginia Ave NW, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festival features dragon boat races, cultural exhibitions, live performances of traditional dances, and traditional Asian food. The Out2Paddle team of Asian & Pacific Islander Queers United for Action DC, the D.C. area’s API LGBTQ social and advocacy organization, will be one of the participants in the festival.
API Pride will also host a book tour “talkback event” with Vietnamese-American poet, essayist, and novelist Ocean Vuong on Monday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue (600 I St. NW).
“Gay for #DCTheatre,” a theatre micro-festival, featuring 12 LGBTQ-themed productions at various locales across the D.C. area, will be held between May 16 and June 7. Shows include the world premiere of We Are Gathered, by Tarell Alvin McCraney, at Arena Stage, Constellation Theatre’s Head Over Heels, Mosaic’s Andy Warhol in Iran, Woolly Mammoth’s Pride Plays Festival, Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Signature Theatre, and others.
Specially-priced tickets will be available with a WorldPride-exclusive code and designated “Pride Nights.” For a full schedule and tickets, visit worldpridedc.org/gay-for-dc-theatre.
The WorldPride Welcome Center, a community hub for out-of-town visitors to rest, recharge their phones, buy snacks, beverages, and Pride merchandise, peruse a curated art exhibit, and find information on upcoming WorldPride events, will be open from May 17 to June 8 at 737 7th St. NW.
Sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display at the Welcome Center, with storytelling workshops and drag story time events taking place there as well. For more information and a full schedule, visit worldpridedc.org/welcome-center.
Trans Pride Washington DC will take place this weekend, with the event’s trademark Pride conference and resource fair, featuring various workshops, keynote speakers, panel discussions, and booths set up by various local nonprofits, on Saturday, May 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. That will be followed by the “Official After Party,” open to all adults over age 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. Due to rising anti-transgender sentiment and concerns for attendees’ safety, the location of those events is on a need-to-know basis. More information can be obtained by registering for the event at transpridewashingtondc.org.
For those over age 21 who wish to keep celebrating, a “Late Night Party” will be held on May 17 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The weekend will end with a “Sunday Funday” social event from 2 to 6 p.m. on May 18. Again, due to safety concerns, locations for those parties will only be given to individuals who RSVP by registering at transpridewashingtondc.org.
DC Latinx Pride will host nearly two dozen events ‘honoring the resilience, culture, and history of Latinx LGBTQ+ communities,” beginning with a late-night LGBTQ-themed “Perreo Vieja Escuela” taking over a straight bar, Public Bar Live, at 1214 18th St. NW, from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. on Saturday, May 17.
The official start of DC LatinxPride will take place the following day, with “La Sanación: Indigenous Welcome,” an event that includes guided spiritual practice, moments of reflection, and collective learning activities honoring Indigenous traditions. The location for the event, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 18, will be shared with those who RSVP by visiting latinxhistoryproject.org.
Other official Latinx Pride events will be held at various locales throughout the D.C. area in the following weeks. The two most prominent parties are the Latinx Pride Kickoff Reception, taking place from 8 to 10 p.m. on May 22 at Kiki (915 U St. NW), and the Official Pride Party, dubbed “La Fiesta,” at Bunker (2001 14th St. NW) on May 29 from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
WorldPride’s Welcome Ceremony, one of the celebration’s more prominent events, will be held on Saturday, May 31 at Nationals Park, 1500 S. Capitol St. SE, featuring remarks from dignitaries and the welcoming of athletes participating in the Capital Cup sports festival. That will be immediately followed by a concert featuring global superstar Shakira, performing as part of her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” world tour. To buy tickets, click here.
After the concert, in conjunction with Kinetic Presents, the LatinX History Project will co-host the “Shakira Tribute After-Party,” from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. at AI Warehouse, 530 Penn St. NE. The event, which features DJ Pedro Night of Adobo DMV and headliner DJ Daiky Gamboa, also serves as a fundraiser for the LatinX History Project, which documents and preserves Latinx LGBTQ history in the D.C. area. For a full listing of LatinX Pride events, visit latinxhistoryproject.org/pride.
From May 30 to June 4, the Capital Cup Sports Festival, featuring a host of exhibition games and tournaments between global LGBTQ sports teams, will be held at various venues throughout the D.C. region. For details, click here.
WorldPride 2025 also plays host to a human rights conference from June 4 to 6, featuring LGBTQ advocacy groups, activists, and allies from around the globe working to achieve full, lived equality for LGBTQ individuals. The conference will be held at the JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. For details, click here.
On Thursday, June 5, from 7 to 11 p.m., the Capital Pride Alliance will acknowledge and honor the contributions of outstanding leaders, activists, and individuals who have furthered the cause of the LGBTQ community at its annual Capital Heroes Awards ceremony. The red-carpet event, featuring presentations and remarks by LGBTQ trailblazers, live music, food, and drink, will be held at the National Building Museum at 401 F St. NW. For details, click here.
From Friday, June 6 to Saturday, June 7, WorldPride will present a music festival and global dance party produced by Jake Resnicow’s “Dreamland” and produced by Insomniac Events and Club Glow, on the grounds of RFK Stadium (2500 Independence Ave. SE). The two-day festival features three stages showcasing artists from various musical genres, cutting-edge art, and immersive experiences. Headliners include Troye Sivan and Jennifer Lopez. For details, click here.
From 5 to 10 p.m. on June 6 and noon to 10 p.m. on June 7, WorldPride will host the 17th Street Block Party along historic 17th Street NW, in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood that is the historical nexus of D.C.’s “gayborhood.”
The event, produced by Dupont Circle Main Streets and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, features local food, adult beverages, and various Pride-related activities. For details, click here.
On Saturday, June 7, starting at 2 p.m., the official WorldPride Parade steps off from the intersection of 14th and T Streets NW. Later that day, along Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between 3rd and 9th Streets, the first of two days of a free WorldPride Street Festival and Concert kicks off, with booths featuring local community organizations, art exhibitors, skilled artisans, and food and beverage options available to revelers.
On Saturday evening, musical artists David Archuleta, Cece Peniston, and Kristine W will entertain the masses from the main concert stage, in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol building, leading up to a special WorldPride performance by headliner Cynthia Erivo.
On Sunday, June 8, some WorldPride attendees will participate in the International Rally and March on Washington for Freedom, which coincides with the National Trans Visibility March. The rally, which will be virtually streamed, will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Lincoln Memorial, with the march stepping off at noon.
Later that evening, as the second day of the street festival continues, musical artists Khalid, Brooke Eden, and 2AM Ricky will perform on the main stage, leading up to a closing performance by Sunday’s headliner, rapper Doechii.
For more information on all of these — and even more — events during WorldPride 2025, visit www.worldpridedc.org.
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