Do you want to teach your kids to celebrate love? Motor City Pride can help with that.
This annual June festival aims to support and celebrate LGBT people, while also raising awareness of the community’s struggles, with two days live entertainment, kids’ activities, food and fun, June 8-9, 2019.
Like all pride celebrations, Motor City Pride’s roots stem from the historic Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 in which New York’s LGBT community rose up against police harassment for the first time.
According to the Motor City Pride website, Civil Rights marches in Detroit, which included members of LGBT groups, happened from 1986-1988 until they were moved to Lansing in 1989. That same year, Detroit saw it’s first Pride Festival at the University of Michigan Dearborn Campus.
Today, Motor City Pride attracts some 40,000 people to Hart Plaza each year. This year’s festivities kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, with two stages packed with live music and other entertainment.
Stop by the Pride Stage for acts like the Out Loud Music Chorus and Sabin’s Drag Revue. The Pyramid stage opens at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday with Phresh Syndicate.
 The fun continues on Sunday at noon with the annual Pride Parade. This procession aims to pay tribute to the Stonewall Rebellion and features a sea of rainbow beads and flags; plus floats and displays from local organizations.
Family fun activities run both days from 1-5 p.m. so be sure to bring the kids by for face painting, crafts and more. There will also be some 120 local vendors to peruse and a vigil to commemorate LGBT lives lost to hate.
Motor City Pride runs 1-9 p.m. Saturday, June 8, and noon-7 p.m. Sunday, June 9, 2019, at Hart Plaza in Detroit.
General admission is $5/person. Kids 12 and under are admitted free. Parking is available on the roof of the Cobo Center for $15 and at several structures in the area for $10-$25. There is also bike valet for those wishing to bike in.
The festival can be accessed from three entrances: at Jefferson and Woodward, near the UAW building and off of the Detroit RiverWalk. All bags are subject to inspection.
For more information on the 2019 Motor City Pride, and details on other family fun things to do this weekend, visit the Metro Parent calendar.
