The Spirit of Pride Is Everywhere in New York City

The Big Apple lives up to its name this Pride season with a celebration sure to impress. New York City Pride, put on by Heritage of Pride, aims to "inspire, educate, commemorate and celebrate our diverse community." Seeing as NYC LGBT communities were some of the first to organize and bring queer rights into the national discussion, the bar is high! But the original revolutionary spirit of the early queer rights movements is not lost. As they say on the NYC Pride website, "The spirit of Stonewall lives on!" (Read more about Heritage of Pride—including a timeline tracing LGBT rights from Stonewall to today—here!)

Between its commencement on June 14 and the final events on the 24th, NYC Pride offers so many amazing events we can’t even begin to cover them all in this list. Starting things off is the Human Rights Conference, a day-long event that brings together "activists, artists, educators, journalists, policymakers, students," and more, all to find creative solutions to LGBT rights issues around the globe. With events "ranging from performances to presentations," the Human Rights Conference is the perfect place to make your voice heard.

June 19 is the perfect day for the whole family with the Family Movie Night! This Hudson River Park screening of Beauty and the Beast is free for everyone. So bring your strollers, bring your Björns, and get ready for a fairy-tale evening!

If you’re more interested in events on the other end of the spectrum, check out "Fantasy," NYC Pride’s intense Friday night party. Held at Slate on June 22, this party offers world-class DJs and performance artists to really help you live your fantasy. This year’s theme? Leather. And don’t forget to check out the first Pride Cosplay event, which invites you to geek out while cruising in the light of the setting sun.

And, if you’re really feeling the revolutionary spirit, check out The Rally! Meet "activists, organizers, politicians, and more" in this memorial march, kicking off where the whole LGBT movement ignited: Stonewall. Participants are encouraged to “take a stand, show up in force, and make your voice heard” in the fight for LGBT rights!

NYC Pride goes out with a bang with three major events on Sunday, June 24. First, the historic NYC Pride March—the biggest in America—promises "450+ unique marching contingents, representing a vast array of nonprofits, community organizations, corporate partners, small businesses, political candidates and activists"—not to mention over a hundred fabulous floats! The event, which starts moving at noon, is the perfect opportunity to celebrate this historic pride with hundreds of thousands of queer people and allies.

After the parade, head over to the 25th annual NYC PrideFest, at University Place. Combining "exhibitors, entertainers and activities for a day of fun and celebration in the name of equality," PrideFest—hosted by the eminently adorable Ross Matthews—is sure to be have something for everyone. Offering "food exhibitors, mobile truck exhibitors, nonprofits, community organizations, small businesses and corporations," one thing’s for sure: you will never be bored!

The final event of NYC Pride, "Femme Fatale," the 21-and-up rooftop party that brings together hundreds of women from around the country to celebrate the beauty and diversity of queer womanhood. Get your tickets here.

While you’re in New York, here are some tips to take full advantage of the city!

A Truly Global City

NYC’s reputation as a melting pot is not for nothing. The charm of the city lies in its incredible diversity. This is good not only for the economy, but for the culture as well! You can get some homemade kimchi and bibimbap in Koreatown, celebrate a religious festival in Little Tibet, and get lost among spaghetti and stracciatella in Little Italy. If you’re totally turned around, check out this awesome map of the different ethnic groups that call New York home.

Museums, Museums, Museums

You probably already know about the stunning collections at the sprawling Metropolitan Museum of Art and the endlessly engaging NYC MoMA. New York is known for its world-class institutions like the New Museum, which offers an unparalleled collection of contemporary art, and the Whitney, with its impressive history of collaboration with the American artists that comprise its collection. But New York’s museum scene doesn’t end there. Learn more about what living in NYC back in the day was like at the Tenement Museum. Or, if you’re in the mood for something eccentric, check out the MMuseumm, where you can find a collection of cornflakes right next to a scale-model reconstruction of the destroyed city of Aleppo. And of course, who could forget the Sex Museum, where you can climb a wall of genitals and even see the infamous sex bike. In any case, you won’t be bored!

Nature in the Big City

Just because NYC is the American metropolis doesn’t mean you can’t get a healthy dose of nature while you’re there! Central Park needs no introduction, but here’s one anyway: founded in the 1850s, today it holds the title as the most-visited urban park in the world, and it’s not hard to see why: with an enormous, carefully-planned layout, there are places to run, to bike, to catch a show, or just lie down in the sun. You also can’t miss the New York Botanical Gardens! The largest of any city in the US, these gardens boast over one million plants, arranged in greenhouses and an extensive landscaped garden. Check out their current exhibit on the tropical plants that inspired Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings.