S.F. Pride 2025: Festivities wrap up in a burst of color

The Civic Center Plaza, which was bustling with Pride-goers, boas, glitter and rhinestones mere hours earlier, is eerily quiet. Instead of booming music and yells over the noise, the sound of truck engines, forklifts and rolling carts over pavement fill the space. San Francisco’s signature fog blankets the sky as the weekend’s Pride festivities draw to a close. 

As dozens of workers pick up garbage from the lawn and stages are dismantled one by one, only a few seem to be gathering to witness City Hall light up in rainbow colors at the end of a weekend jam-packed with Pride events and celebrations. It’s cold, after all, and if you aren’t at home trying to rest up, surely you’ve picked a more exciting event. 

City Hall, after all, has lit up rainbow before — even this month! June 3, 6 and 23 have seen the building lit up in rainbow hues, and on June 27 the facade was blue, pink and white in honor of Trans March. But when few days each month don’t feature special lighting, it’s no surprise tonight’s display isn’t being met with hordes of onlookers. 

At 8:38 p.m., when the elaborate facade does eventually illuminate in the colors now representing free expression of oneself, including who you love, it is striking, it is beautiful and it’s a reminder that even a symbol this simple would not be sanctioned in all cities. 

– Allie Skalnik

Saucy Santana has taken the Pride main stage, and just in time: the fog is rolling in over City Hall, marking the end of a day of sunshine and celebration. The grassy areas, once packed with loungers, are beginning to clear.

The bass is loud enough to rattle your chest.  Santana teases unreleased tracks, even as the festival’s time runs out. Some fans rush the stage for the final act. Others start to trickle toward the exits.

Still making the rounds and posing for photos: Brixton, San Francisco’s famous therapy dog. He’s wearing a rainbow sequined cap and reflective sunglasses, still greeting each of his fans with enthusiasm.

“It’s always our favorite time of year. It’s what’s San Francisco is all about,” Linda Gordon, Brixton’s owner, said. “The rest of the world doesn’t get it.”

— Jessica Blough

The grandstands at SF Pride, a perk for those willing to pay for prime seating to the parade, were closed for an hour in the middle of the parade, the San Francisco Fire Department said. SF Pride was relying on the grandstand tickets along with tickets to its City Hall after party to make up funds that it lost from corporate sponsorship this year, executive director Suzanne Ford said in an interview on Friday.

Two grandstand ticket holders said they were promised a refund for what they paid to sit in the stands. Brandon Baker, a ticket holder, said he paid $300 for tickets for him and his partner for the grandstands and City Hall afterparty and regretted the decision.

Sukai Curtis-Contreras of the fire department confirmed that the grandstands were closed for part of the parade. She said the fire department had received a report that the stands were unstable, and that they had either been fixed or rebuilt by the time they reopened. She said the department was unable to, as of this time, figure out where the complaint came from. She rode in the parade with the firefighters and said that she did not remember them being closed when she drove by.

— Jessica Blough

I show up too late by waiting until the end of the parade. But by 4 p.m., the Pride afterparty at City Hall seems to be far from the hottest event of the evening, especially for $150 a ticket.

DJs are pumping music in, but everyone is mingling, not dancing. I step on a stray meatball. There’s a $1 bill on the ground that no one is bothering to pick up. Along with the open bar, the drag show in the North Light Court is the main attraction. One attendee spins an umbrella covered with Harvey Milk’s face. It was packed earlier, a bartender says. The party’s just getting started, an attendee says.

Notably absent when I arrive: Anyone of note who works at City Hall. And, though the rotunda is bustling with people and scattered tables, the second floor and up seem abandoned.

Outside the stone walls, the scene is much more crowded and energetic.

— Jessica Blough

Civic Center was already shimmering by mid-morning, and it wasn’t just the glitter. Pride flags snapped in the wind beneath the domes of City Hall, parties bursting out left, right, in front of and inside the mayor’s building. The end of the parade was just the beginning of the largest rally of the weekend.

Six stages pulse to different rhythms: Latin trap at one, house and techno at another. Scandalizing to many outside of San Francisco, the usual suspects are out and about, wearing nothing but fanny packs to hold their phones and sunscreen bottles. Liberation in its rawest form.

A Black man named Luke wears only a pet anaconda around his neck, Teva sandals and a foreskin piercing. A self-proclaimed ally — “baby momma bisexual, lots of friends transexual” — he charges $20 for the photo. No criteria specified.

“It’s all about body positivity here,” he proclaims. What is a heterosexual looking for in such a spot? Fun and sex, why not? “You’d be surprised by the many lesbians who love d*ck.”

Around him, the energy was flirty, fizzy, and fearless: Strangers winking, leaning in, exchanging numbers or just names, taking photos of one another: Their costumes, their signs, their dogs. Even their scars.

Everything visible tells a story. A woman named Nikita walks around offering “Free Warm Hugs,” dressed up in a Sinaloa dress with colorful embroidery on her chest. Nikita, a professional mariachi singer and native San Franciscan, identifies as a pansexual Mexican-Jordanian second-generation immigrant.

“I feel like Pride is a place where you can show off your nice outfits and what you’re representing,” she says. “There’s still a lot of stigma in the Latin community […] so I try to spread the love and acceptance.” Behind her sign, she has a tally of hugs. Saturday is still winning.

By 2 p.m., lines were forming at the cocktail tents, where bartenders craft beer and rainbow margaritas. The air was thick with flirting and freedom. “Qué perra, qué perra, qué perra mi amiga!” someone sang loudly as they passed. No one blushed. Everyone beamed.

The party is only getting started.

— Liliana Michelena

The parade route is coming to an end at Civic Center Plaza, as the final 30 or so contingents make their way past the grandstands and part ways until next year.

What began as a very energized, creative and political event has settled down as a few corporations and universities finish out the day. But just as soon as the festivities seem to be ending, an army of furries makes its way up the road, closed in by Macy’s and Sephora. The organizers must be doing this on purpose.

A few faith groups follow them, and more companies. Bedazzled costumes have been replaced by matching T-shirts, but trucks and buses are blasting pop hits.

Still to come: A Pride festival with half a dozen stages in Civic Center Plaza, and a party at City Hall.

— Jessica Blough

The south side of Market Street is thin, but the crowd on the north side — the same side as City Hall — is filling up, some people barricaded at the edges of the street like concert-goers. On the sidewalks, street vendors offer snacks and tequila shots. Booths sell rainbow T-shirts and many, many pride flags.

Crowd members say they came from Stockton, Detroit, Virginia, and Canada to experience San Francisco Pride. They’re a multigenerational group, from 11 years old to 85. Some wear fishnets and flash the parade participants; others wear T-shirts and sports jerseys. Some come alone, some embrace their partners and hold hands. They grasp for stickers and buttons from parade participants, reaching out for Free Mom Hugs and high-fives.

When I ask them what they like about the parade, their answers sound similar: the sense of community. The outpouring of love. The sounds of thousands of people shouting their adoration for gay pride.

— Jessica Blough

The raucousness of Heavy Petting Zoo, with their stilts and stuffed animals, juxtaposes against 1,500 Apple employees in white shirts. It’s an apt metaphor for the parade as a whole, where raunch and whimsy walk alongside corporate sponsorships and district supervisors. The crowd cheers for both, though perhaps a little harder for Heavy Petting Zoo.

Four Amazon delivery trucks precede a whip-wielding leader of the leather community contingent. Just behind them, two dog-masked people pull this year’s Leather Marshals. In masks, tails, harnesses and, yes, a lot of leather, the contingent carries a thirty-foot flag and invites the crowd to bark at them.

“If you’re feeling naughty out there, let me hear you! If you’re looking good today, let me hear you even louder!” Someone in spandex, body glitter and a red bandana yells from a pickup truck.

— Jessica Blough

We’re just over an hour into the parade, and volunteers are asking participants to hustle to fill some gaps that are forming along the route. Hilariously, a very persistent pile of poop has been smashed into the pavement right where participants turn from Spear Street onto the parade route, so the first scent to greet them in their journey is not a pleasant one.

The sun is out, the rainbow flags are flying, and a horde of 1,500 Apple employees is anxiously awaiting its turn. Newcomer sponsor SFO just got on the route. And right behind them is Everyone Loves A Corgi, walking and rolling 50 corgis decked out in rainbow attire.

“It’s our way to bring you amplified joy that we bring to the streets of San Francisco,” founder Derek Yee says.

— Jessica Blough

State Sen. Scott Wiener is riding with a truck dubbed the USNS Harvey Milk, after the naval ship that was renamed by the Trump administration just this week.

“It’s disgusting what they’re doing to Harvey and his legacy. It’s straight up homophobic,” Wiener said. “It’s a reminder of the fight that we have on our hands, and today, that we have to fight to save our community.”

He’s riding with Senator Alex Padilla and an “ICE out of S.F.” sign, as well as three black SUVs for the Senator’s security.

— Jessica Blough

Marching with Openhouse services for LGBT seniors: Designers Michael Johnstone and David Faulk of Verasphere.

Johnstone and Faulk have been together for 32 years. They started designing together as a way to add joy to their lives when Johnstone’s friends in the theater community were dying of AIDS.

Their outfits are made of technicolor hoop skirts, balloons, sequins, and plastic jewels hot-glued in rainbow patterns. They’ve been marching in the parade since 2017, and this year they have about 35 of their outfits in the parade.

“You get so much from the crowd. It’s such a different way to be viewed,” Faulk says.

Behind them, Harper Steele, this year’s celebrity Grand Marshal, rides in a convertible. Steele is known for her documentary, “Will & Harper,” featuring her friendship with actor star Will Ferrell, who she met on “Saturday Night Live.”

— Jessica Blough

And there’s the roar of the motorcycles — and the crowd. The 2025 Pride Parade has officially commenced.

Next on the route: The SF Pride board of directors, led by Executive Director Suzanne Ford, leading the Resistance Contingent in the parade.

“Trans people will not be erased!” board member Anjali Rimi exclaims. “Happy Pride!” Ford adds.

Activists, community groups, nonprofits, corporations, schools, politicians and more are getting in place for their turn in the parade. The loudest crew lined up so far? The firefighters, who are blasting ABBA from their fire engine.

— Jessica Blough

The 55th San Francisco Pride Parade is about to begin at Embaracadero and Market Street, and Dykes on Bikes are lining up in leather vests and assless chaps to open the parade. About 175 motorcycles will lurch forward in a cacophony of engine roars, marking the official beginning of the 2025 Pride Parade.

Rebecca Gardner is one of the road captains for the Dykes today. She’s been riding in the parade since 2009 and this year will be about the third person down the parade route. Her favorite part is hearing the crowd respond to the bikes.

“In about an hour, it’s gonna be a lot more people, we start the motorcycles,” she says. “And then, the roar.”

The bikers aren’t allowed to conceal their heads with motorcycle helmets during the parade, so a crew of volunteers is meticulously packaging each helmet in a cardboard box and packing the boxes into a U-Haul. At the end of the parade, the bikers will be reunited with their head protection and free to ride off into the sunset.

Nearly 200 parade contingents are lining up and ready to go, from corporations and city officials to furries and corgis.

Organizers are hoping for some 500,000 attendees at today’s event. Mission Local will be here all day. Check in for more updates during the parade and following festivities.

— Jessica Blough