Your guide to the 2023 Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival and After Party Drag Show

BAY CITY, MI — June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Great Lakes Bay Pride is ready to celebrate.

The annual Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival presented by Dow returns to downtown Bay City Saturday, June 24. The festival celebrates the region's LGBTQ2S+ community and "champions diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all," according to a Great Lakes Bay Pride news release.

LGBTQ2S+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning, and two-spirit.

Here's everything you need to know before you go:

Where

The annual festival takes place on the riverfront in downtown Bay City's Wenonah Park, 801 N. Water St.

When

The Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival officially opens at 11 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m. Saturday, June 24.

All ages welcome

Event organizers say the Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival is a family-friendly, smoke-free event with a children's activity area, STEM activities, live entertainment and more than 50 retail and resource vendors.

The children's area under the Dow tent, powered by Dow's GLAD employee resource group, provides youth activities to foster growth, health, and science. Free STEM-based activities will be available for both kids and adults.

Live music

The pride festival also features live entertainment and a refreshment tent where adults can enjoy a cold beverage.

Great Lakes Bay Pride's own Harmony Diversity Choir will open the main stage at this year's event. Harmony Diversity Choir is an inclusive choral group of LGBTQ and ally performers who use their voices to educate, network and advocate for diversity, inclusion and equality.

Health screenings

The festival will feature retail and resource vendors with products for purchase and information to share, including Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, which will offer free, on-site health screenings.

Admission is free

The Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival is free to attend.

Adults-only after party

After the festival ends, Great Lakes Bay Pride will host an adults-only After Party Drag Show in the Red Room at The Dow Event Center, 303 Johnson St. in downtown Saginaw.

Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. Guests must be 18 years old or older.

Tickets are $15 until June 15 and $25 after that. Tickets can be purchased online here or at the door the day of the event. Tickets are available online here.

There will be a cash bar and limited seating. Parking is free.

For more information, visit greatlakesbaypride.org.

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