Chesco Pride Festival Saturday, June 10, in Phoenixville

PHOENIXVILLE, PA —The 6th Annual Chester County Pride Festival, hosted by the LGBT Equality Alliance of Chester County, is from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 10, on Bridge Street in downtown Phoenixville, PA.

The event is a free event, and all ages are welcome. Enjoy music, food vendors, entertainment, vendors, games, and activities.

After the festival, restaurants and shops are offering special discounts. Rainbow balloons will designate participating restaurants and shops.

Here are some other Pride events:

• Pride Party: A pride after party is planned from 8 p.m. Saturday, June 10, to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 11 at the LGBT Equality Alliance, 14 Gay St. Phoenixville.
• Pride Talk: A conversation with Walter Naegle is planned from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 23, at the Chester County History Center, 25 N High St, West Chester. Naegle is an artist and photographer who is the surviving partner of late American Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin, Naegle serves as board member emeritus at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQIA center in Princeton, N.J.
• Tea Dance: A dance is set from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at the Chesco History Center, 24, N. High St.

Pride Month occurs during June in deference to 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 the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common, 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 are packed with pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts across the nation and around the world.