August 28, 2023
Cody Aldrich Photography/Aversa PR
OURFest, Philadelphia's revamped National Coming Out Day celebration, is taking place Oct. 7-8 with a parade and festival in the Gayborhood.
Philadelphia's National Coming Out Day celebration returns in October with a new name and an emphasis on having fun and building community.
OURFest, or Our Uniting Resilience, includes an LGBTQ+ Pride parade on Saturday, Oct. 7 and a community festival in the Gayborhood on Sunday, Oct. 8. Both events, which are free to attend, are hosted by Galaei, the organization tasked with with revamping the city's Pride events.
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The OURFest National Coming Out Parade features floats and performances from LGBTQ+ organizations from Philadelphia and the suburbs. Sections of the parade are dedicated to youth and families, sports, professional leaders, pioneers, arts, drag performers and cultural groups. It begins at 4 p.m. at Fifth and Market streets in Old City and concludes at 6 p.m. at Broad and Locusts streets.
The community festival, held the next day from noon to 7 p.m., includes programs for youth and families, dedicated spaces for sober people, a food truck market and a street lined with Afro-Latino performers. There also will be wellness tables that provide STD testing and spaces for people to decompress. And adults can visit VICE, a space with resources about safe sex.
"Pride in June has roots that were in protest and a stand for justice and quality for our larger LGBTQ+ community," said Tyrell Brown, Galaei's executive director. "We created a march where the entire LGBTQ+ community could participate, march together and raise up our voices. For National Coming Out Day, we see this as a key opportunity to share and celebrate our collective and individual stories of coming out. The parade allows for our community to experience and enjoy a visual display of how far we've come."
Galaei began organizing Philly's Pride events after Philly Pride Presents disbanded following a Facebook post in 2020 that used transphobic language to describe demonstrators at the 1969 Stonewall Riots. The post framed the police who raided the popular gay bar as victims in what is largely known as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
More information about OURFest will be revealed ahead of October's parade and festival. Vendors and community organizations can sign up to participate in the parade on Galaei's website.
Saturday, Oct. 7-8
Times vary | Pay-as-you-go
Gayborhood
