The gay high holy days are upon us as San Francisco prepares to host one of the biggest Pride celebrations on the globe. The draw for many is the star-studded, weekend-long SF Pride celebration at Civic Center on June 29 and 30, which culminates in the parade on Sunday. For others, the highlight might be Friday’s more grassroots and protest-oriented Trans March or Dyke Day at Dolores Park, where women and friends post up to picnic all afternoon. (Saturday’s official Dyke March is, unfortunately, canceled this year.)
Your 2024 San Francisco Pride Party Guide
Kai'lee Luckey (left) and Kaleonna Vang, both visiting from Sacramento, watch the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 26, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
Surrounding all these festivities are block parties, kickbacks, raves and ragers that literally go from morning to night throughout the weekend. To help you plan, here’s our handy guide of 10 parties you shouldn’t miss, with a mix of events catering to different music tastes, vibes and LGBTQ+ identities.
Keep in mind that each of the venues mentioned on this list has a stacked schedule all weekend long. If these parties aren’t your thing, check out the venues’ websites or your favorite DJ or drag queen’s Instagram for other events to choose from.
And word to the wise: Stay hydrated, test your party favors, practice safer sex, take care of your friends and remember to have fun!
Bustin’ Out: Official Trans March After Party
Friday, June 28, 6 p.m.–Saturday, June 29, 1:30 a.m.
El Rio, San Francisco
$25
Sponsored
Friday’s annual Trans March feels like an organic gathering, true to Pride’s activist roots. With trans rights under attack nationwide, this pilgrimage from Dolores Park to the Tenderloin’s Transgender District is where gender-nonconforming people and allies take up space. Instead of corporate floats, you’ll find protest signs affirming the diversity of the gender spectrum and calling for equal rights to healthcare and housing. The annual Bustin’ Out afterparty at El Rio after the march is a benefit for Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), an organization that fights prison abuses and supports formerly incarcerated trans people. DJ sets by Dreams, Succubus, Honeybear and Lady Ryan will turn up the energy, and there’ll be a designated chill zone next door at Mothership with music by Piano Rain and Del. San Francisco’s all-Black drag show, Reparations, will host performances. Presales have sold out, so getting there early to snag door tickets is a must.
Forever-Queer Pride Dancing and Drag
Friday, June 28, 9 p.m.–Saturday, June 29, 2 a.m.
The Stud, San Francisco
$20
Legendary queer bar The Stud recently reopened its doors in SoMa, and drag performer Vivvyanne ForeverMORE! is kicking off a new party during Pride weekend: Forever. With performances by Clutch the Pearls co-founder Churro Nomi, Princess co-host Lisa Frankenstein, Major Hammy, Hands and Britney Smearz, this event celebrates the experimental and off-kilter style of drag The Stud is known for. DJs Infinite Jess and JUMPR will keep the dance floor going all night.
Club A.B.L.U.N.T. Presents: Pride with UNIIQU3
Friday, June 28, 10 p.m.–Saturday, June 29, 3 a.m.
Monarch, San Francisco
$20–$30
UNIIQU3 has rocked massive festival stages, but CLUB A.B.L.U.N.T..’s pride party at Monarch offers the rare opportunity to experience her manic Jersey club beats in their optimal setting: while getting your life in a sweaty basement. This party’s stacked lineup features a dozen of the Bay’s top-tier DJs: experimental beatmaker Tomu DJ; Hard French founder Brown Amy; hyperpop connoisseur Freaky Emo; house music experts Charles Hawthorne and Floridawtr; and Black, who started A.B.L.U.N.T. (Asians, Blacks and Latins Uniting with Native Tribes), one of the first Bay Area parties to center queer people of color, back in the early ’90s.
Bearracuda
Friday, June 28, 9 p.m.–Saturday, June 29, 3 a.m.
Public Works, San Francisco
$30–$60
If you’re looking for a celebration of beefy and burly men, look no further than Bearracuda on Friday night. This bear-centric event will take over the 1,000-capacity nightclub Public Works — and it promises to be a full house. As far as dress code, underwear is encouraged, and there will be a place to check your clothes (not just your coat). DJs David Harness, Mateo Segade and Philip Grasso — plus go-go dancers — will keep the crowd moving to house beats all night.
Hella Gay Pride Dance Party
Saturday, June 29, 8 p.m.–Sunday, June 30, 2 a.m.
First Edition, Oakland
$10, $20
Hella Gay was an Oakland queer party staple pre-pandemic, and it returns during Pride weekend at Oakland cocktail bar First Edition. East Bay dwellers now have a dance option that won’t have them scrambling to catch last BART or break the bank for an Uber from the City. DJs Homofongo, Kare Bear and Micahtron (who, full disclosure, booked me to DJ at First Edition once last year), will be spinning genre-bending sets of Afrobeats, dembow, house, hip-hop and more to get booties of all genders popping all night.
Drag vs. Burlesque
Saturday, June 29, 9 p.m.–Sunday, June 30, 2 a.m.
The White Horse, Oakland
Free
Helmed by Queer Fem Parties, Drag vs. Burlesque promises a night of pole dancing and drag with femme performers of color at the center, and a lineup that celebrates all shapes and sizes. Expect gravity-defying moves and lip sync numbers alike from Lici Louboutin Makaveli, Ashanti Altovese, Nani Panther, Mari V, Mahlae Balenciaga and Qozmo the Clown, plus music by DJ Fredie.
Polyglamorous Pink Block Party
Saturday, June 29, 12 p.m.–Sunday, Jun3 30, 3 a.m.
The Great Northern, San Francisco
$30–$110
If you’re looking for rave vibes during Pride weekend, don’t sleep on the massive Polyglamorous block party. The all-day, all-night event boasts an enormous lineup of over 40 DJs and 12 drag performers. Daytime headliners include funky beat selector DJ Holographic, Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic and Olof Dreijer of The Knife; Massimiliano Pagliara — a driving force of Berlin’s disco revival — headlines after-dark festivities.
Queer as in Uprising! Soulovely Pride Block Party
Sunday, June 30, 1–6 p.m.
Victory Hall & Parlor, San Francisco
$35–$45
Oakland’s Soulovely crosses the bridge during Pride weekend for a daytime outdoor block party that centers queer and trans people of color. The theme? “Queer Liberation Combat Boots the House Down Drag.” That means boots, berets, shirts repping activist causes or dressing in whatever way speaks to your definition of queer resistance. Soulovely is known for a hyped dance floor and eclectic music selection, and headlining this event is DJ and percussionist MTOORAY of No Nazar, the touring party that highlights global beats of the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African diaspora. Charles Hawthorne and La Femme Papi round out the lineup with perreo, dembow, house and a spectrum of uplifting, rump-shaking sounds.
Juanita MORE! Pride
Sunday, June 30, 12–7 p.m.
620 Jones, San Francisco
$60
Local drag legend, DJ and activist Juanita MORE! knows how to throw a party with a purpose, and she’s personally raised more than a million dollars for local queer organizations with her events over the past three decades. This year, her annual Pride blowout benefits LYRIC Center for LGTBQQ+ Youth, which offers young people job and housing resources and social support. Expect a fabulous soiree with drag, drinks and dancing for a righteous cause. Online presales have ended but you can still grab tickets at the door or at these select San Francisco locations.
Pride Sunday with Amanda Tori Meating and Hershii Liqcour Jeté
Sunday, June 30, 8 p.m.–Monday, July 1, 2 a.m.
Oasis, San Francisco
$20
Sponsored
San Francisco’s premier drag club, Oasis, is doing it big on Pride Sunday. Whether you need an afterparty for the main celebration or a place to dance after sleeping off Saturday’s festivities, Oasis has a stacked lineup of drag performers lip syncing every half hour. The headliners are Amanda Tori Meating and Hershii Liqcour Jeté of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16 fame, who’ll be heading to Oasis after they perform on the main SF Pride stage, plus local drags of all genders: Snaxx, Vera!, Kochina Rude, Lisa Frankenstein, Melanie Sparksss, Loma Prietta and Siri. Go-go dancers will shake it all night as DJ Rubella Spreads keeps the house and disco beats pumping.
