Connecticut, which has sizable gay communities in New Haven, New London, and the capital city of Hartford, as well as a significant number of gay residents living across the state, hasn’t had an official Gay Pride festival in recent years: Connecticut The pride was last celebrated in Hartford. Recently, however, the second largest city in the state, New Haven, showed up to host a New Haven Gay Pride Festival. The event most recently took place in mid-September and is expected to happen again in 2017.
Details will be posted here as soon as they are available. Also check out our article on Hartford Gay Pride, which usually takes place a week before New Haven Pride.
Events take place over three days in the historic heart of downtown New Haven, bordered by the majestic Gothic-style buildings that line the Yale University campus. Last year, the celebration took place on the last weekend of September and included an initial reception on Friday at New Haven City Hall, followed by a march to Pride New Haven’s headquarters, the New Haven Pride Center (84 Orange St.), who hosted an open house that night.
The big event is the celebration of the Pride New Haven Block Party, which usually takes place on Saturday at the corner of Orange and Center streets and features live music and entertainment crawl, vendor booths, a stand of dunk-a -queen, activities for children and more. The festival takes place from afternoon to night.
After the block party, the Gotham City Cafe (84 Orange St.) was the venue for the New Haven Pride After Party , starting at 10 pm Entrance is over 18 years old.
Most recently, Pride ended Sunday with a Tea Dance on the terrace of the Dockside Resort Bar, overlooking Long Island Sound in nearby New London.
New Haven Gay Resources
Numerous gay bars, as well as gay-popular restaurants, hotels and shops have special events and parties during Pride Week. Check local gay newspapers like The Rainbow Times and Bay Windows for more details. Also take a look at the handy trip planning site produced by the city’s official tourism organization, Visit New Haven.
