ONE OF THE WORLD’S most famous Pride celebrations is about to kick off in San Francisco, with major events planned throughout the weekend and transit agencies preparing to offer more services.
This year “Queer Joy is Resistance” will be the main theme of the Pride celebrations throughout the city. Organizers hope to provide a unifying message for the LGBTQ+ community and allies as they attend this year’s events.
On Sunday, the 55th annual Pride Parade will march down Market Street in downtown San Francisco. The route kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at Embarcadero Plaza and will travel down Market Street before finishing at City Hall. Spectators can watch along the entire route and are invited to celebrate after the parade finishes at the Civic Center.
Saturday and Sunday will feature the SF Pride Civic Center Celebration, a street fair with entertainment stages and over 300 vendors and exhibitors. Open from noon to 6 p.m. the festival will feature notable headliners such as Michaela Jae Rodriguez from FX’s hit show “Pose,” singer Saucy Santana, and Canada’s Drag Race’s season 1 winner Priyanka.
Starting Thursday night until Monday morning, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will close streets surrounding the parade route and festival grounds. Traffic will be redirected from the downtown area throughout the weekend and heavy congestion is expected for motorists. More information about specific street closures and service changes can be found online.
Public transit agencies will be increasing frequency and capacity on their lines for riders looking to leave their cars at home and enjoy the festivities.
BART has four stops along the parade route — Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center stations. Saturday will have normal services, but on Sunday the agency plans to help people “ride with pride” by opening at 8 a.m. and offering five-line service. Trains will be scheduled to arrive every five minutes at the downtown stations and the agency will adjust capacity based on ridership demands. After 9 p.m., service will be reduced to three lines.
Muni will be rerouting many of the routes that regularly travel down Market Street onto Mission Street. Muni Metro light-rail will remain in service, allowing paradegoers to enter and exit at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center stations.
For attendees traveling from the Peninsula to the parade, Caltrain will be offering its half-hourly regular weekend service from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be a Caltrain DJ team entertaining paradegoers at the San Francisco station while giveaways and swag will be offered.
The San Francisco Bay Ferry will be offering additional morning service from Vallejo, Oakland, and Alameda alongside their regular weekend service. Riders traveling from Richmond, Alameda, or Oakland are offered free parking at ferry-affiliated structures.
For those traveling on buses, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit a will be offering its regular weekend transbay services to the Salesforce Transit Center.
Golden Gate Transit will be operating its buses and ferries on its regular weekend service. Those looking to arrive early are encouraged to take the 9 a.m. Larkspur ferry that will travel directly to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal.
Besides the main Pride celebrations in downtown San Francisco, some other events will take place around the city.
The annual Trans March will take place at Dolores Park on Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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