The premier Gay Pride event for Long Island’s large and well-connected LGBT community is Long Island Gay Pride, comprising the 26th Annual Long Island Gay Pride Parade and Festival, held in the city of Huntington in mid-September. of June. This year’s date is June 11, 2016.
The Long Island Pride Rally Parade & Festival in the park takes place in the town of Huntington, which has direct service to Manhattan via the Long Island Railroad (it’s about a 70-minute train ride from New York’s Penn Station ). The Pride Parade begins at noon and runs south along Huntington’s Park Avenue and then east along West Main Street to the site of the Long Island Pride Festival , Heckscher Park (on Main St. and Prime Bird. ). The festival starts at 1pm and is free and lasts all afternoon – there is entertainment, food vendors, a community fair, and children’s areas. Famous alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs headlines this year.
Note that it’s only a 25-mile drive to Huntington from Sayville, home to ferry service to the very popular gay resort towns of Cherry Grove and The Pines on Fire Island. So if you’re on Fire Island right now, consider heading to Huntington for Pride.
Be sure to visit the travel site produced by the region’s official tourism organization, the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. The organization also produces a helpful resource guide for same-sex couples seeking help planning gay weddings.
