After COVID-19 forced the annual event online in 2020, Portsmouth Pride returns to downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday, October 9, to celebrate the diversity of the Seacoast LGBTQ+ community. Check out the full schedule on Seacoast Outright’s Portsmouth Pride 2021 event page.
Hosted by Seacoast Outright since 2015, Portsmouth Pride has always been “youth oriented, family friendly, and community focused,” said Hershey Hirschkop, executive director of Seacoast Outright.
“This year is no exception. With continuing COVID concerns and ongoing political attacks on vulnerable members of our communities, it’s more important than ever that we come together safely to show our LGBTQ+ youth they have community-wide support,” Hirschkop said.
The fun kicks off at 12 p.m. in Portsmouth’s Market Square, where participants will gather for a festive community Pride March. At 12:30 p.m., the march leaves Market Square and follows an accessible route down Court Street and Marcy Street to Strawbery Banke Museum’s Puddle Dock Field. All are welcome to join the march, and participants are encouraged to bring their own banners, signs, flags, and costumes.
All young people ages 12 to 21 are invited to march with the Outright Youth group who will lead the procession. Other groups open to all ages include Black Lives Matter Seacoast, Out in the Boonies, Allies 4 Ever, Seacoast Queers With Kids (SQWK), New England Aces, and more. Join one of these marching groups or sign up your own at seacoastoutright.org/events.
Following the Pride March, entertainment will begin at the Mainstage at Strawbery Banke. The program will feature drag performances, spoken word and poetry, dance, and music by young performers from the Seacoast and surrounding areas, including a performance by Seacoast Repertory Theater’s teen company. Local band The Revolutionists will perform, and a dance party from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. will feature DJ WhySham, a Boston-based performer and “community DJ.” The New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities is providing ASL interpreters for the event.
More at seacoastoutright.org/events.
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