Charm City’s turn to celebrate Pride

Baltimore Pride promises to be a weekend of fun this year. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Baltimore will roll out the rainbow carpet to host its annual Pride celebration Saturday and Sunday. Following the traditional High Heel Race at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, the parade — with a record 72 entries — will march north on Charles Street from the Mt. Vernon Washington Monument.

Afterwards, the Block Party becomes a nightclub without walls. Plenty of food, beverages and other vendors, entertainment and lots of partying take place at Charles and Eager streets. Neon Hitch is the headliner act on the stage. Thousands will be crammed into the two blocks in the heart of Baltimore’s “gayborhood.” Representatives from Marylanders for Marriage Equality are also expected to speak to the crowd.

On Sunday, 80 vendors representing a wide range of non-profit LGBT and LGBT-friendly organizations as well as for-profit vendors will align along a section of Druid Hill Park for the Pride festival. It begins at 11 a.m.

As in the case of the block party there will be a plethora of regional and local entertainers. J Pope and Funk Friday headline the entertainment.  Local drag acts will perform on the Lady Lisa Drag Stage. As always, there will be a family zone.

More than 5,000 attended last year.  Baltimore Pride is the principal fundraiser for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore.