LGBTQ Pride Celebration Returns To Chester This Weekend

CHESTER, NJ — Chester-based organization Common Thread will hold their second annual Pride celebration on Saturday, the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month.

The event promises fun for the whole family, with music, crafts, face painting, snacks, and shopping opportunities with local vendors. Organizers said there will also be educational and mental health resources, giveaways, and more.

"Chester has PRIDE" will take place at Highlands Ridge Park barn, 100 North Road in Chester Township from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 1.

Common Thread is a nonprofit organization with a stated goal "to foster progress and empathy by supporting initiatives within our community that create opportunities for education and personal growth."

The group hosted Chester's first-ever Pride event in 2023 with hundreds of attendees, and said this year's event "promises to be better than the last."

Pride Month occurs during June in part to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising, a tipping point in the struggle for equality among people who identify as LGBTQ.

New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common at the time, but patrons fought back, resulting in days of violent clashes across Greenwich Village.

The observance started as Gay Pride Day on the last Sunday in June, but soon grew to the point that June calendars around the world are packed with Pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts.