About Harlem Pride
Harlem Pride's Celebration Day is an outdoor festival on Harlem's west side waterfront with a live stage show of LGBTQ musicians and performers. It also offers vendors and referrals for health, legal and financial services. Harlem Pride, Inc. is a nonprofit that celebrates the Same Gender Loving and LGBTQ community and its place in Harlem's history.
Harlem Pride began with co-founders Lawrence Rodriguez and Carmen Neely. The first idea was a party to promote the yearly Pride exhibit at Rodriguez's Casa Frela Art Gallery. Neely designed a logo based on the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, Harlem's tallest building, and wore it on a T-shirt to a poetry night at Billie's Black, and interest spread. When the two learned Harlem had never held a formal public Pride celebration, they recruited a founding board, and Rodriguez's West 119th Street block association agreed to share its block party permit.
The first Harlem Pride Day took place on June 26, 2010, on West 119th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues, with about 20 vendors, more than 2,500 people and New York State Senator Bill Perkins in attendance. Harlem Pride has been held on the last full weekend in June ever since, and it has added community forums, workshops and networking events.
The organization uses the term same gender loving, coined by activist Cleo Manago, to include identities in Harlem's African American community. Its mission focuses on the physical, mental and economic health of Harlem's SGL and LGBTQ community, and its long-term goals include a Community Pride Center for Harlem and Upper Manhattan. The 2026 celebration, titled 17 Shades of Pride, was hosted by Hope Giselle.
Summarized from the organizer's own website.
What to expect
Pride events celebrate LGBTQ+ people and mark the Stonewall uprising of June 1969. Most combine a parade or march with a festival of performers, community groups, vendors and food.
Harlem Pride has included festival and health fair.
Harlem Pride was first held in 2010. Organizers reported more than 20,000 annually people in 2026.
The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held June 27, 2026. It usually falls last Saturday in June.
- Festival
- Health fair
Where it happens
Harlem Pride is held at 12th Avenue between West 130th and West 132nd Streets in Harlem, New York. It is one of 66 Prides in New York on this calendar.
Questions about Harlem Pride
- When is Harlem Pride 2027?
- The organizer has not announced 2027 dates yet. In 2026 it was held June 27, 2026. It is usually held last Saturday in June.
- Where is Harlem Pride held?
- Harlem Pride takes place at 12th Avenue between West 130th and West 132nd Streets in Harlem, New York.
- What happens at Harlem Pride?
- Events have included: festival, health fair.
- Who organizes Harlem Pride?
- Harlem Pride is organized by Harlem Pride, Inc.. Their official site is harlempride.org.
- What other Prides are near Harlem?
- The closest others on this calendar are Bronx Pride Festival and Health Fair in Bronx, NY (same city); Brooklyn Pride in Brooklyn, NY (same city); Da Bronx Pride Festival in Bronx, NY (same city).
LGBTQ-owned businesses in New York
See allNone are listed in Harlem yet, so these are elsewhere in New York. Eat, stay and shop with LGBTQ-owned businesses while you are in town. Ownership on every listing is sourced, never guessed.
