CINCINNATI — Happy Pride!
Cincinnati's annual Pride Parade is hitting the streets of the Queen City on Saturday ahead of the Cincinnati Pride Festival at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove.
Whether you plan on grabbing a spot along the parade route or you're wanting to celebrate at the festival, here's everything you need to know about the weekend's festivities:
The Parade
The Cincinnati Pride Parade, which is one of the city's largest parades of the year, kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday. The parade steps off from 7th and Plum streets, follows 7th Street until it turns right onto Vine Street and heads toward The Banks, goes through the DORA region, crosses in front of Great American Ball Park and ends at 2 p.m. at the festival grounds, which is Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove.
The parade itself will have floats from more than 100 organizations, businesses, nonprofits and more. Those along the parade route can expect to see floats from the Pride Youth Development Foundation, Cincinnati Cyclones, Bloom OTR, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati City Council and many more.
The Festival
The Cincinnati Pride Festival is a family-friendly event running from noon to 9 p.m. The festival, which is free to attend, has food, drinks, vendors and three stages with live entertainment.
In terms of live entertainment, attendees can expect drag performances, DJs, dance troops and bands. Of the headliners, American alt-pop band The Aces is performing on the main stage at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with Canadian drag queen and singer Priyanka performing directly after at 3:30 p.m.
For the full entertainment lineup, click here.
Road Closures
The Cincinnati Pride Parade does cause some road closures that could impact travel, especially for those wanting to celebrate Saturday. All of the following streets are expected to reopen Saturday at approximately 3 p.m.
Staging Area closes at 8 a.m.
- 7th Street exit ramp to SB 75 — closed
- 7th Street ramp from Gest Street — closed
- W 8th Street — eastbound closed at Linn Street
- Central Avenue — closed between 6th and 9th streets
- Plum Street — closed between 9th and George streets
Parade Route closes at 10:30 a.m.
- 7th Street — closed between Central Avenue and Walnut Street
- Elm Street — closed between 6th Street and Garfield Place
- Race Street — closed between Garfield Place and 6th Street
- 5th Street — closed between Race and Walnut streets
- 6th Street — closed between Walnut and Race streets
- Vine Street/Rose Parks Street — closed north of Ted Berry Way
- 4th Street — closed between Walnut and Race streets
- 3rd Street — closed between Walnut and Race streets
- 2nd Street — closed between Elm and Walnut streets
- Freedom Way — closed between Elm Street and Joe Nuxhall Way
- Walnut Street — closed south of 2nd Street (Local Access Only)
- Joe Nuxhall Way — closed south of 2nd Street
- Mehring Way — closed between Central Avenue and E Pete Rose Way (CRG to exit westbound only)
- E Pete Rose Way — closed between Broadway and Johnny Bench Way
- Johnny Bench Way — closed
Parking
Cincinnati Pride recommends those heading down to the parade and festival book parking with SpotHero, which is an parking reservations app. You can click here to reserve parking via the Cincinnati Pride SpotHero Parking Page.
There are also multiple other garages and lots near The Banks, Fountain Square and into Over-the-Rhine. Parking options closer to the festival grounds and The Banks may be higher than those farther out due to the Pride events, and the Cincinnati Reds have a 4:10 p.m. game Saturday against the Boston Red Sox.
If you're coming from Newport or Covington, you can walk across the Purple People Bridge or Roebling Suspension Bridge, respectively.
The Cincinnati Bell Connector also has 18 stops throughout downtown Cincinnati for those who want to park farther away from the festival grounds. Those riding the streetcar will want to exit the connector on Stop No. 1. For the full Cincinnati Bell Connector route, click here.
Other Community Events
Other than the Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival themselves, there are also a variety of community events happening throughout the weekend.
After the festival ends Saturday, DJ Boywife and DJ Karsten Sollors are performing at the PORKGRIND Pride Dance Party, which is a 21+ event at The Mockbee. Other events include a Tea Dance at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday, a queer comedy show and a Pride Pub Crawl on Friday to kick the weekend off. For a full list of other community events, click here.
