New Jersey’s 34th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in Asbury Park

The nonprofit Jersey Pride has produced New Jersey’s annual LGBTQ Pride event in Asbury Park on the first Sunday in June since 1992. Attendance usually surpasses 20,000 over the weekend.

ASBURY PARK- The 34th Annual Statewide LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in Asbury Park will take place from Friday, June 5 through Sunday, June 7, and the main festivities will culminate on Sunday with the grand parade and the outdoor beachside festival.

Jersey Pride Inc., the nonprofit organization that produces the Garden State’s annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Celebration in Asbury Park the first Sunday in each June, launched its annual parade and festival in 1992, and has remained a constant for New Jersey’s LGBTQ+ residents and their allies.

It is the largest, and oldest, LGBTQ Pride Celebration in the garden state, with attendance under normal circumstances surpassing 20,000 over the weekend.

Tickets to the family (and pet) friendly event cost $10 and will feature New Jersey’s largest outdoor display of the Names Project’s AIDS Memorial Quilt, rides in our Family Zone, and an array of eating options at the food court.

The Festival

The Pride Festival will see community groups and businesses distribute a wide variety of information, including job opportunities, housing options, family issues, disease prevention and screening, sources of support for victims of violence and abuse, legal rights and services, and the availability of support for issues that the queer community faces, according to Jersey Pride.

The Rally

Local artists will share the rally stage for a six hour outdoor concert against a backdrop of the Asbury Park Boardwalk and Atlantic Ocean. Adore Delano, Bryan Ruby, Dayo Dane, Danny Blu, Jasper, How I Became Invisible and Sister Funk are some of the artists headlining the rally.

The Parade

The parade will start at noon on June 7 at Asbury Park City Hall and head south on Main Street, then left on Cookman Ave toward the ocean, then left on Grand Ave. The parade will continue north on Grand to Sunset Ave, where it turns right and ends at the Rally / Festival Grounds.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com