*The DIA PRIDE Parade has been rescheduled to June 16th & the PRIDE Block Party has been rescheduled for June 17th. See details below.

Ithaca is Inclusive. We believe PRIDE is for everyone, from families to performers, youth to adults, and will offer activities that everyone can enjoy.

Join us for this year's Pride Week celebrations! Educational opportunities, health screenings, drag performances, dance parties, and more will be happening the week of June 9th-16th at locations on and around the Commons.

2023 PRIDE Week Entertainment & Activities + Event Forms



DIA Events & Activities

June 16 - PRIDE Parade and Dance Party. 6pm-9pm. Press Bay -> Bernie Milton Pavilion.

*6pm Pedestrian march from Press Bay Alley to the Bernie Milton Pavilion. 7pm Opening Remarks followed by a Dance Party until 9pm. This event and route is mobility device accessible.

June 17 - PRIDE Block Party. 12pm-6pm. Press Bay .

Community Events & Activities

Thursgay at The Range Drag Bingo with Pole Posse

Location: The Range 119 E State Street (above Trader K's old location, now William Jane Dispensary)

Date: June 8th

Time: Doors 9:00 pm show 9:30 until close

Description: Join your Thursgay family for some BINGO! There will be prizes, poles, and perfectly crafted drinks from The Range! Bingo games will have pole and drag performances between games, each round will have a prize donated from one of our lovely sponsors.

Young Adult Book Club
Tompkins County Public Library
Friday, June 9th 4:00-5:30pm
Join us in the Schwarz Jacobson Room to discuss the YA graphic novel Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu. Pick up a free copy of the book at either the Teen Center Reference Desk at TCPL or at Buffalo Street Books.

Press Bay Court Enchanted Pride Forest

Location: Press Bay Court - 114 W Green Street

Date and Time: 6/10/23 from 11am-3:30pm

Queen Tessential has cast a magic spell on Press Bay Court transforming it into the Enchanted Pride Forest. Join the friendly denizens in picnicking in the forest while enjoying family-friendly performances, story readings, poetry, crafts, and friendly competitions that show off your pride spirit. Victorious competitors will be granted boons of the realm from Queen Tessential herself! Picnic Baskets can be preordered at mybeautifulboards.com and picked up at The Gallery!

Pride Family Storytime and Dance Party
Saturday, June 10th 11:00am-12:00pm
Tompkins County Public Library - BorgWarner West
Join us for a celebration of Pride - family style - with LGBTQTIA+ Stories, make a festive pride fairy flower crown, and then join us for a fun dance party with DJ Woodrow!

ORGULLO ITHACA PRIDE DRAG BRUNCH

Location: Zócalo Mexican Bar and Grill

Date and Time: 6/11/23 from 12pm-3pm

Come celebrate Ithaca 2023 Pride with an all Spanish drag show & brunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The best drag performers in town will bring you around the world of latino music. Tickets at Eventbrite /// Únanse a celebrar Ithaca 2023 Pride con un drag show y brunch de nuestra favorita comida mejicana. Los mejores transformistas drag de Ithaca te llevarán a través de los sonidos latinos. Entradas a la venta en Eventbrite.

Saturgay at The Range Pride Week kick-off Drag Show

Location: The Range 119 E State Street (above Trader K's old location, now William Jane Dispensary) Date: June 11th

Time: Doors 9:00 Show 9:30 until close

Description: Join your Thursgay host Tilia Cordata after the block party for a rainbow filled night you are sure to remember!

Cocktails for a Cause

Location: Bar Argos - 408 E State St Ithaca, NY

Date and Time: 6/13/23 from 4-10pm

On Tuesday, June 13th, 100% of Bar Argos bar proceeds will be donated to the Transgender Law Center and Planned Parenthood of Greater NY. Doing something charitable has never tasted so good, sipped so sumptuously, lounged so lavishly...!

Stand-Up for Pride
Cinemapolis on 6/13/23 from 7-9pm.
Get ready to burst with laughter at the Pride Week Comedy Show in Ithaca, NY! Join us for an evening of side-splitting hilarity as renowned comedians Madelein Smith and Kendra Dawsey take the stage. Link to the event site.
bit.ly/PrideStandUp

Healthy Queer Relationships
Tompkins County Public Library – BorgWarner East
On 6/13/23, from 5:30-7pm, join Crissi Dalfonzo from Cornell's LGBT Resource Center for a workshop about starting, ending, and maintaining queer relationships! We'll cover communication methods and techniques, relationship red (and green!) flags, and leave plenty of time at the end for Q & A. Free workshop.

LGBTQ+ Fiction Writing Workshop
Tompkins County Public Library – BorgWarner East
Wednesday, June 14 5:30-7:30pm
Registration required - This practical workshop will help you develop a work-in-progress or begin a new project in a safe, encouraging environment. Through discussion of writing exercises and prompts we will cover elements of craft—structure, character development, dialogue—as well as process, deadlines, critique guidelines, even writer’s block.

*These workshops are meant to be taken as a series. Registering for the first date will automatically enroll you in all three meetings.

Elisabeth Nonas is the author of 3 published novels and the forthcoming Grace Period; Story Workout: Exercises to Help You Connect to the Stories You Want to Tell; and co-author with Simon LeVay of City of Friends: A Portrait of the Gay and Lesbian Community in America. She taught screenwriting and writing for emerging media in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College.

Open Mic Night Celebrating Queer & BIPOC Joy

Location: The Gallery at Press Bay Court 

Date and Time: 6/14/23 from 6-8pm

Poetry, spoken word, and other acoustic performances welcome. Open to the public. Sign up at the event. FREE. This open mic event will inspire writers and artists to create and share work which celebrates joy which is underrepresented in prominent art by marginalized groups. It is hosted by The Gallery and current exhibiting artist, Brooke Lange, in conjunction with the current exhibition LIFTING BOTANICALS, which is a celebration of queer joy and honoring what inspires happiness in our lives. This event is part 1 of a 2 part part open mic series, presenting poetry and spoken word about queer and BIPOC experiences at The Gallery.

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes | Feeling Heart

Location: Cinemapolis 

Date and Time: 6/14/23 from 7-9:30pm

This documentary covers the remarkable sweep of Lorraine Hansberry’s life and art which she employed, according to pbs.org, as “a medium for activism during the civil rights movement. The film also explores her “identity as a lesbian and the themes of sexual orientation and societal norms in her works.” The talkback session following the screening will be moderated by Dr. Samantha Sheppard, Associate Professor, Performing and Media Arts, Cornell. The event is free and open to the public. Contact Ken Clarke at kclarke@tompkins-co.org.

Awesomely Queer Movie Night
Tompkins County Public Library – BorgWarner East
Thursday, June 15 6:00-7:30pm
Join us at TCPL for Awesomely Queer movie Night on Thursdays in June from 6 until 7:30ish in the BorgWarner Room.

June 8, a documentary about transgender Jazz Musician Billy Tipton.

June 15, a comedy based on Emily Dickinson’s romance with another woman.

June 22, a documentary revisiting NYC’s underground ballroom scene

June 29, a 90s gem about 3 drag queens who get stranded in the Midwest and find themselves changing minds...

Thursgay at The Range Taste the Rainbow Hosted by Tilia Cordata and Noah Phence

Location: The Range 119 E State Street (above Trader K's old location, now William Jane Dispensary) Date: June 15th

Time: Doors 9:00 Show 9:30 until close

Description: Thursgay keeps the pride party going with Tilia Cordata and Noah Phence hosting this talent filled show! Special Guest Jayden Jameson plus a cast of your favorite local performers.

Pride Send-Off Party

Location: Deep Dive 415 Old Taughannock Blvd

Date: June 16th

Time: Sapphic Happy hour hosed by Femme de Violette 4-8, Pride Party 8:00 – until close

Description: It’s an all-day event! Join Femme de Violette for a Sapphic happy hour from 4-8 with music and pop up drag performances, then stick around for the all-night party! With multiple stages, shows and hosts it’s going to be a send-off to remember!

Young Adult Book Club 

Location: Buffalo Street Books 

Date and Time: 6/17/23 from 4-5:30pm

Join us in the reading room to discuss the YA graphic novel Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu. Pick up a free copy of the book at either the Teen Center Reference Desk at TCPL or at Buffalo Street Books.

Whiskey Tango Sideshow
Located at Deep Dive on 6/17/23, from 9pm-1am.
Ithaca's own burlesque troupe brings will "THROW BACK" with performances paying tribute to the early 60's to the early 80's featuring special guests Ghula Mortisse and Athena Merlot. Bust out those bellbottoms and platform shoes! All the sassy fun plus games and a booty-shaking dance party. $10 in Advance/$15 Day of Show.

Drag Story Hour

Location: Buffalo Street Books 215 N Cayuga St

Date: June 18th

Time: 11:00 am – 12:00pm

Description: Join Miss Tilia and Miss Coraline for an hour of children’s stories and games

Drag Me To The Discothèque

Location: Argos Warehouse - 416 E State St Ithaca, NY

Date and Time: 6/30/23 from 9pm-1am

Pride dance party and catwalk! Featuring DJ Sammy Jo, from NYC, with disco house music and hosted by Ithaca's own Femme de Violette. Get your dancing shoes on and ready your catwalk strut... One last hurrah! **Please note: This event takes place outside of Ithaca's PRIDE week 2023. 

Downtown Ithaca is Inclusive

Visitors will find Ithaca is Inclusive window decals adorning the windows of many of the community's eateries, shops, and businesses. Inclusive Space Decals are there to welcome LGBTQ+ people and families into their place of business. The decals were created to help businesses convey and display a commitment to inclusiveness and to welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people and families.

Learn more about this community-wide initiative and what this means to the businesses that choose to be involved. Downtown businesses can request window clings here upon reviewing the program mission and committing their business to follow inclusive and welcoming practices for LGBTQ people and families.


2023 DOWNTOWN ITHACA PRIDE WEEK GUIDE

Download Festival Guide HERE

 

2023 PRIDE Week Sponsors

This event is made possible in part by financial support from Guthrie, Maguire Auto, Planned Parenthood of Greater NY and Visit Ithaca.


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Planned Parenthood of greater NY logo
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TRANSPORTATION & PARKING


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Street Parking

On-street parking is $1.50/hour during the week until 6pm.  Free on the weekends.  Pay for parking using the Paystation Kiosks on each block, or using the Park Mobile App.

More Parking Info
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Garage Parking

Visitors can park in the Seneca and Cayuga garages and walk to any part of the festival.  Parking is $1.00/hour inside the garage on during the week.

FREE PARKING inside both garages: Saturday & Sunday during the festival. The Green Garage is CLOSED for construction.

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Ride the Bus

Avoid the hassle of parking altogether and ride TCAT to Downtown.  Both Green Street and Seneca Street bus stations are part of most major routesFind a complete list of  TCAT bus routes and schedules here.

Plan Your Ride
Park n' Ride map

GO ITHACA Park n' Ride

Use the Go Ithaca Park n' Ride spots at Wegmans and ride TCAT Downtown.  Look for the Go Ithaca Park n' Ride signs on light poles in the Southeastern corner of their main lot. TCAT bus stop is located near the deli entrance.

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Bike to the Festival

Ride a bike to the festival and park at any of the art bike racks around downtown.  Please be sure to dismount and walk your bike while on the Ithaca Commons and within the festival footprint.  Map your bike route to Downtown with Bike Walk Tompkins too.
Find an Art Bike Rack