Pride 2018: 25 Highlights From Parties, Festivals, and Marches

The 49th annual NYC Pride March took place June 24 and drew more than two million attendees. March organizer Heritage of Pride kicked off the event, with marchers carrying six rainbow balloon arches. This year, the march had a different route—it began on 16th Street and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea, moved down to Christopher Street (the usual end of the march), and then went up Fifth Avenue to end at 29th Street. The route change was made to speed up the march and prepare for the city hosting World Pride in 2019.

The event had more than 350 marching groups. Notable floats included VH1’s sparkling, hot pink stage that incorporated the title of the network’s RuPaul's Drag Race in white and lip silhouettes. The show’s current top four drag queens posed in life-size pink frames with the network and series branding. The float was designed by the Refinery Creative and produced by Blondie's Floats and Joe C Signs.

NYC Pride’s second annual music festival took place June 23 to 24 at Pier 97. The two-day event featured performances by Kylie Minogue, Lizzo, Big Freedia, Sasha Velour, and Tove Lo (pictured). The stage turned into a runway that stretched into the crowd.

Along with musical performances, the festival featured numerous activations from sponsors including Skyy vodka. The vodka brand incorporated its Proudly American campaign—which celebrates diversity and progress in America—with a reflective red, white, and blue photo booth that displayed campaign messaging in different languages. Swell designed the activation.

The Skyy activation also had a station where guests could get custom-printed T-shirts in a language of their choice. 

NYC Pride’s presenting sponsor T-Mobile returned with an Instagram-friendly ball pit in the brand’s signature pink and white color. The pit was filled with plastic balls in rainbow colors and branded beach balls. The activation was produced by M2W Inc.

MAC Cosmetics had a stage that featured a yellow, orange, and pink rainbow and different color blocks for dancers. Off to the sides of the stage were two makeup stations, where guests could get custom face painting and glitter makeovers. The activation was designed in-house, and the Joe Lewis Company built the set. 

Macy’s incorporated its Pride and Joy pride campaign into a slow-motion video booth, which was designed by the company’s internal events team in collaboration with Shake and Share Media. The booth had hanging disco balls, on-theme props, and a rainbow backdrop that displayed the campaign name. 

NYC Pride’s free event for L.G.B.T.Q. and ally teens took place June 23 at 14th Street Park. The event held a runway show on a wooden, rainbow-painted stage that featured the red bullseye of sponsor Target. The stage was designed by Adam Koch Associates and Design Foundry.

At NYC Pride’s 25th annual street festival, which was produced by KM Productions, sponsor V8 offered guests beverages at a colorful farmers market-inspired station. Guests could pose in front of a photo wall that was created with different types of flowers and fruits that each represented a color of the rainbow. The wall was designed by floral studio Iris and Virgil. 

Pride Media, publisher of Out and the Advocate, hosted a five-day experiential pop-up at Samsung 837 in New York June 18 to 22. The weeklong pop-up, a new event produced in partnership with PMK-BNC, had daily empowerment panels with public figures such as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, film screenings, music and comedy events, and experiences from sponsors. H&M brought its Pride Out Loud campaign to life with an interactive balloon photo booth that incorporated images and video from the campaign.

Greater Fort Lauderdale had an interactive rainbow mural that resembled a thumbprint. Attendees were invited to add their thumbprints to the mural throughout the week. The mural was gifted to the Stonewall National Museum & Archives in Greater Fort Lauderdale. 

Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS displayed a photo booth advocating for H.I.V. testing with changing neon signs that could be controlled with a Samsung tablet. RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Monique Heart was on site for photo ops. 

W New York—Times Square hosted a mini voguing ball competition on June 19. Attendees were invited to participate in categories including “Old Way vs. New Way—In a Tracksuit,” “Runway—All American vs. European,” and "Face—Pride King/Queen,” which required competitors to have all five rainbow colors on their face.

Created by Lori designed a rainbow photo backdrop with paper and magazine cutouts. 

For BuzzFeed’s second annual event, which took place June 1 at Samsung 837, the media company invited L.G.B.T.Q. high school students from across the country to submit their stories. Five teens were flown to New York as the official queer prom court, and got to receive prom makeovers, participate in the “Prom Kween” crowning ceremony, and star in BuzzFeed’s video series about the event. The name of the event was displayed on a giant digital screen, with a rainbow balloon installation displayed on the main stage.

The L.A. Pride Festival took place June 9 to 10 at West Hollywood Park, offering performances on three stages from artists including Kehlani and Tove Lo. The festival, which was produced by JJLA, featured a digital stage backdrop that highlighted event sponsors.

The L.A. Pride Parade took place on Santa Monica Boulevard June 10. Sponsor Delta had employees donning festive balloon “backpacks” in each color of the rainbow flag.

The Walt Disney Company’s float was a two-story street car like those found on Disneyland’s Main Street. The vehicle was decked out in rainbow balloons.

The Beverly Center and The Advocate magazine kicked off Pride month in Los Angeles on June 1 with an event that celebrated the L.G.B.T.Q. community and the magazine's four "Champions of Pride" honorees. Event decor, which was handled by ESE Lifestyle, included a tree with rainbow origami leaves. PMK-BNC produced the event.

The San Francisco Pride Parade took place June 24. Equinox’s float displayed the gym’s name in rainbow colors along with a life-size, rainbow version of the brand’s signature “O.” Float riders worked out on stationary bikes and with rainbow dumbbells. The Parade Guys built the float, under the direction of Equinox executive creative director Elizabeth Nolan.

Twitter’s float featured a glittery rainbow, the platform’s blue bird logo, and a physical “tweet” on a mirror. Employees posed with life-size cutouts of Twitter’s signature emojis, which had a rainbow twist. The float was designed by the Parade Guys.

Delivery app Postmates had a silver float that featured a rainbow version of the company name. The float, which was designed in-house and built by Nick Zegarra, displayed pillars that carried cutouts of the brand’s signature bike courier in different colors.

Banana Republic celebrated the beginning of Pride Month with a stunt in San Francisco. The San Francisco-based clothing brand's employees gathered to form a rainbow-colored heart around the Cupid’s Span sculpture, with footage captured by a drone. The stunt coincided with he brand’s release of its limited-edition collection of rainbow Love Is Love clothing.

Capital Pride sponsor Marriott continued its Love Travels campaign—which conveys the hotel brand's commitment to making all guests feel welcome—into a float for the parade, which took place June 9 in Washington. This year, the brand offered members of its Marriott Rewards frequent traveler program to bid their points for a V.I.P. experience, which included a ride on the float. The float, which was created by IMG Live and Symmetry Event Solutions, featured rainbow string art and a hashtag sign of the campaign name with a colorful paint splash design.