Community Corner
Worcester 2019 Pride Parade: Route, Road Closures
Worcester holds its pride parade and festival in September so that students from the 11 colleges in the city can participate.
WORCESTER, MA — While several cities in the commonwealth celebrated their pride parades and festivals in June, Worcester has been celebrating this first week of September and is wrapping up the week with the annual Pride Parade on Saturday.
No, Worcester isn't late — in fact, if you ask the organizers of the city's parade and festival, they're right on time. The Worcester Pride Parade was moved to September several years ago to accommodate the students at the 11 colleges in the city who wanted to be part of the festivities. Worcester's first pride parade dates back to 1979.
Throughout the week events were held to honor the LGBTQI+ community and its history in the city. Rainbows were painted downtown, a reception to honor Worcester Historical Museum was held and the Pride Flag was raised in front of City Hall, to name a few. The main event to tie the week together, is the parade and festival.
Worcester's Pride Parade and Festival is known as the Family-Friendly regional Pride of New England. It has the largest kids zone of any regional pride. The day consists of the parade, a festival on the common, a block party and youth dance events.
Pride Festivities Schedule
Pride Parade
- Time: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
- Route: Starts at Institute Park and marches down Main Street to City Hall.
- Parade will leave participants at the festival on the Worcester Common.
- Time: 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
- Location: Worcester Common oval
- What to expect: Live entertainment, a greeting from Mayor Jospeh Petty, awards, a kid zone, food trucks, etc.
There will be other events held throughout the day in the city including a mixer at Bull Mansion from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., a dance at the Grid Beer Pavilion from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., a block party at the MB Lounge from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. (21 and over only) and a youth pride dance at the YWCA of Central MA from 6 p.m to 10 p.m.
Traffic Delays and Closures
Drivers can expect delays beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Salisbury Street from Institute Park to Grove Street, across Highland Street and Main Street to the Common due to the parade.
The Canal Diggers Road Race will also be held on Saturday, adding to possible traffic delays. Drivers can expect intermittent delays and detours from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Harding Street, Green Street, and parts of Franklin Street and Francis McGrath Blvd.
