The ferries from Boston are running, Tea Dance is pulsating, and Pride is just a few weeks away. It’s time for another season of summer fun in Provincetown, the country’s premier LGBTQ+ destination.

Each month in Ptown is filled with events designed to unite, celebrate and enjoy the most exuberant season of the year. There are unforgettable nights of music and drag shows ahead at The Art House, with performers like Audra McDonald, Jessie Muller, Seth Rudetsky, Monét X Change, Max von Essen, Jeremy Jordan, and Samara Joy. Summertime brings days at the beach, nights at the clubs, and the Friday Night Gallery Stroll, here in America’s oldest continuous art colony. Here’s a look at what’s coming up:

June: Pride, Juneteenth, & Provincetown Film Festival

Provincetown Pride kicks off the summer season June 2-4, 2023. This year, it’s a packed schedule with the sixth annual Provincetown Pride Festival, the Pride Rally, and the Sashay to Tea on the Saturday afternoon of Pride weekend. The festivities include the Pride Cruise from Boston, the Full Spectrum Pride Kickoff Party at Red Room, and the 2nd Annual Queer Comedy Showcase at Town Hall. The Feet Over Front Street 5K Run / Walk will be held on Sunday, June 4, a rainbow run on Ptown’s main drag.

June also welcomes Womxn of Color Weekend (June 1-4), a four-day Pride event designed to elevate, strengthen, educate, and celebrate LGBTQ+ women of color, trans-, nonbinary and genderfluid people of color, and their accomplices while Frolic (June 15-19) is for Queer People of Color. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Provincetown Film Festival (June 14-18), Provincetown’s premier cultural event, attracting 10,000 plus film-goers, movie buffs, and arts patrons over the five-day festival. This year’s theme of Cabaret Fest (June 5-11) is “Sondheim By the Sea,” celebrating the genius of Stephen Sondheim and other great Broadway composers with 13 shows, with Broadway veteran Karen Mason. Juneteenth (June 19) brings together Black/African Americans, Indigenous Persons, People of Color, young leaders from the Provincetown IB School, allied community members, organizers, and leaders to honor the day.

 July: Bear Week, Girl Splash, & Family Week

REVOLUTION: Independence Week (July 1-8) is Provincetown’s renowned 4th of July Circuit Party week, with international DJs, dance parties, and pool parties. That leads into Bear Week (8-15), a yearly gathering of bears, wolves, cubs, and otters, for a week of parties, events, and shows. The standout summer event for women, Girl Splash (July 19-22), is about parties, solo meet-ups, schooner sail, beach bonfires, and Lesbian Beach. Then there’s Family Week (July 22-29) is the largest annual gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified families in the world.

August: Provincetown Carnival

Carnival (August 12-19) is the summertime peak, Provincetown’s original summer celebration of community, expression, and creativity, a fantastic event created by the Provincetown Business Guild in 1978. Grand Marshal this year is Jason Carter (aka Monica Moore), and the theme is Land of Toys. This festive week brings tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ participants to town, a jam-packed seven days of parties, events, costume contests, and the famous Carnival parade down Commercial Street.

For more on lodging, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and activities, go to Provincetown Tourism. 

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.