Long Island Pride Parade 2013

Long Island Pride 2013 will take Huntington Village and Heckscher Park by storm with marchers and floats, tens of thousands of participants, and all-star entertainment on the stage all day long. This year’s theme is Super Pride, celebrating the super heroes in our community who are taking heroic steps towards equality for all GLBT people.

Long Island Pride Parade

Long Island Pride is coming back to Huntington with a bang this June! Celebrate your Pride on Saturday, June 8th by coming out to the 22nd Annual Long Island Pride. At 12pm, march with hundreds of community members and allies or cheer from the sidelines as the Parade travels through Huntington Village. Then spend your day in Heckscher Park for PrideFest, an all-day music festival featuring all-star entertainment and local performances. Enjoy food from a variety of vendors, check out community booths, buy a souvenir or two, and listen and dance the afternoon away with more than 13,000 other participants.

This year’s theme is Super Pride, a time where superheroes in our community are called to action to celebrate Pride while also recognizing the heroic steps we have taken towards equality for all GLBT people in the local and national levels. Leave your cape at home or come decked out in full costume, but don’t hide behind an alias: we’ll see you at Long Island Super Pride.

Long Island Pride traces its origins to 1991 when Long Island Lesbian and Gay Pride Freedom Committee founders Leah Gustavson, David Kilmnick, Cara Wilson and Steve Henaghan approached the Town of Huntington to grant a permit to hold the first Pride Parade. The request was denied by the town on the grounds that only “traditional” parades were allowed on Huntington’s streets.  The committee was represented by the ACLU and the matter was heard in a federal court on May 28, 1991 by Judge Leonard D. Wexler who ruled in favor of the committee and granted the parade permit. The first Long Island Pride Parade was held on June 9, 1991.

Following the Long Island Pride Parade, PrideFest 2013 will be held in Huntington’s Heckscher Park from 1pm to 6pm. This year, expect big changes, bigger entertainment, and the biggest show of pride yet. There’s something for everyone!

PrideFest Rocks Heckscher Park!
Following the Parade, the fun continues in Huntington’s Heckscher Park with an all-new PrideFest from 1-6pm. PrideFest will feature a VIP Lounge, health pavilion, beer and wine garden, and information booths. Admission is free and open to everyone, though donations are encouraged to help fund this event for future years.

The PrideFest stage has an entertainment lineup like Long Island Pride has never seen before. Past entertainment featured Frenchie Davis, dance music sensations La Bouche, Reina, Veronica, and Lucas Prata, plus talented community members and local DJ’s performing all day long. This year’s entertainment will be announced soon.

Pride Guides will be available in early June and more than 20,000 copies will be distributed throughout Long Island to over 200 locations to help you party at Pride: learn more about entertainment, see photos from last year’s event, and much more.

Stay connected to Long Island Pride during the events for updates and alerts by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook. Tweet with us all day and submit your photos for a chance to be featured on our Flickr and Facebook pages. One lucky person who submits a great photo will be selected to win a free t-shirt.

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