Detroit Gay Pride 2024

Detroit Gay Pride 2024

Motor City Pride is an annual outdoor festival with a colorful pride parade, celebrating the love, lives and diversity of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied communities in Michigan.

• Stay Downtown close to the city’s pride celebrations. The Detroit Foundation Hotel is rated “Superb” by guests, full of charm and character with spacious rooms, a gym and perfect location.

Pride in Detroit

• Detroit takes its pride celebrations seriously, and is home to the largest pride celebration in Michigan, with over 40,000 participants.
• Motor City Pride, first started in 1972 as a march downtown. It’s been in various parts of the metro area over the years, but moved from Ferndale to Detroit in 2011.

Motor City Pride Parade

• Awaiting dates- The Detroit parade parade is held on the Sunday of the weekend celebrations,at noon. Detroit Pride parade begins at the corner of Fort and Griswold streets, near Campus Martius. Remember to dress to impress!
• Marchers will gather and depart from Griswold Street south of Michigan Avenue, head down to Jefferson Avenue, go west until the Cobo Center, and then enter Hart Plaza. If you want to be in the centre of all the action, stay at the Detroit Foundation Hotel, just seconds from the square.

Riverside Festival

• Saturday and Sunday – Don’t miss the riverside festival, the official pride party held over two days on the riverfront at Hart Plaza.
• The festival features four stages of live entertainment, each playing a different type of music and hosting different live entertainment.
• The festival also has a beer garden and pride picnic! Gates open at 1pm and continues until 9pm on Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.
• There are three entrances to the festival: the main gate off Jefferson and Woodward avenues, the west end of the plaza by the Ford UAW building, and from the Detroit Riverwalk.
• The festival has 12 food and beverage trucks selling a variety of items, including vegetarian dishes, cocktails, and beer.

Gay Detroit

Detroit today is one of the Midwest’s best-kept secrets. There is a strong, thriving gay community, interesting theater and performing arts, lush green spaces, and some of the friendliest people anywhere.

• Detroit’s gay scene is vibrant, diverse and inclusive. Since the 1940s, the gay community in Detroit has shifted from convening in mostly underground spaces to out and proud ones welcoming all genders and sexual orientations. It’s been a long journey, but LGBTQ people have remained resilient.
• Many of the bars are on or around main streets to the north of downtown, on McNichols, 7 Mile, 8 Mile or 9 Mile Roads, and along Woodward Avenue. Stay at The Element Hotel, just a short taxi drive to the bars and clubs.
• Ferndale is a little further from downtown and is a gay-friendly neighborhood with several gay shops, cafes, and nightclubs. Royal Oak at the end of Woodward is also worth a visit and has stores, cafes, and theaters.
• There is a wide variety of LGBTQ+ nightlife in metro Detroit. Options range from the all-male late night Escape Lounge Nightclub, to Ferndale’s Soho, a restaurant and bar that commonly hosts events in support of the wider LGBTQ+ community.
• Don’t forget to pay a visit to Menjos, a bar that’s popular among gay men and is Michigan-native Madonna’s former haunt, or Adam’s Apple if you are in the mood for karaoke.

Recommended Hotels in Detroit

The following Detroit hotels are located in the Downtown district. Ferndale is a 17 minute drive from Downtown.

MGM Grand Detroit,  Aloft Detroit,  DoubleTree Suites,   Atheneum Suite Hotel