Baltimore Pride, hosted by the Pride Center of Maryland (PCOM), is in full swing. This year’s festival marks 50 years of the city celebrating the LGBTQ+ community’s contributions to society and promoting inclusion and acceptance.

The theme for the 2025 festival is “50 Shades of Pride,” a testament to the community’s diverse history and experiences.

“Baltimore Pride 2025 is more than a festival— it’s a movement. It’s real, unsanitized, unbought. We’re talking ‘block party energy’ meets ‘radical liberation,’” said Cleo Manago, CEO of PCOM. “We carry legacy— Black brilliance, street rhythm, sacred memory— and we show up as we are: vibrant, bold and unapologetically authentic.”

Baltimore Pride kicked off with an opening happy hour at The Manor in Mount Vernon on June 11. On June 13, Mount Vernon Pride will take place with djs and live performances, art installations, community vendors, local makers, food trucks and dance zones.

The Pride Parade will start at noon on June 14 at Charles Street and North Avenue, and a block party will follow at Charles Street and 29th Street. Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and S. Rasheem, director and executive producer of The Baltimore Legacy Project, will serve as the grand marshals for the parade.

The 2025 festival will close with Pride in the Park at Druid Hill Park on June 15, which will include performances from American R&B and gospel singer Kelly Price and singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr.

Manago noted that this year’s pride festivities come amid a growing sense of fear in the LGTBQ+ community as the 47th president and lawmakers across the country lodge attacks against their identities and rights. The CEO stressed that PCOM aims to go beyond mere recognition of queer, transgeneder and nonbinary individuals by providing concrete support.

“Especially now, when just showing up can feel dangerous, we know visibility isn’t enough. It has to come with infrastructure,” said Manago. “We provide real systems of support—mental health care, housing help, legal aid, workforce development, financial literacy, GED and trauma-informed services, including for those navigating reentry, homelessness or institutions that were never built for us.”

For first-time attendees of Baltimore Pride, Tramour Wilson, chief director of special projects at the center, said he hopes they feel a sense of home at the festival. Wilson also hopes they can see themselves represented in the festival’s programming, elders, leaders and performers.

“Baltimore Pride isn’t about fitting in,” said Wilson. “It’s about showing up fully. When you do, we’re here with love, safety, inclusion and community.”