Lower Cape Pride Weekend Returns For Second Year

ORLEANS – Residents and visitors will once again show their support for members of the LGBTQ+ community during this year’s Lower Cape Pride Weekend.

 On the weekend of June 12, a variety of events and activities will be held, headlined by this year’s Lower Cape Pride Parade at 10 a.m. on June 13.

 Heading into the second year of Pride festivities, Joanna Stevens, who is helping coordinate this year’s events for the local nonprofit Lower Cape Pride, said the inaugural parade “totally surpassed” her expectations.

 “I was kind of in the middle of the parade,” she recalled. “I looked forward and back, and I couldn’t see the end or the beginning down Main Street.”

 The weekend will kick off June 12 with a Pride Social at the Alley Bowling and BBQ on Route 6A. The all-ages event will include free bowling from 6 to 8 p.m., followed by a family-friendly drag show at 8 p.m.

 This year’s parade will step off from Snow Library and proceed along Main Street before ending at the Town Cove Tap House, where there will be a post-parade event with speakers, Stevens said. 

 “We’ll have some panels at the Tap House about the history of drag here,” she said. “That’s a piece of it, but it’s mostly just a celebration of community.”

Main Street will be closed along the parade route and will gradually be reopened as the parade progresses.

 This year’s parade will be led by Yarmouthport residents David Bermudez and Bob Isadore, survivors of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.

 “They were very active in the parade and involved in the afternoon activities [last year],” Stevens said. “So we wanted to recognize them this year officially.”

 A number of other Pride-themed events will be held around the Lower Cape in connection with this year’s Pride Weekend. The Chatham Orpheum will host a screening of “Xanadu” June 4, with doors opening at 6:45 p.m.

 “Dress up is encouraged, just like some of the cult movies,” Stevens said. “It’s kind of fun.”

 The Harwich Council on Aging, meanwhile, is hosting a Thursday Pride Film Series throughout the month of June. Screenings will include “Beginners” (June 4), “Good Grief” (June 11), “The Wedding Banquet” (June18) and “Cloudburst” (June 25). All screenings are at 1 p.m. and RSVP is required: 508-430-7550 ext.1.

 Snow Library will hold an opening reception June 10 from 5 to 7  p.m. for its Pride-themed art exhibit “Unity in Community.” The exhibit will run through the month of June.

 At the Orleans Senior Center, the council on aging’s annual Pride BBQ will be held June 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. In addition to food, the event will feature music from the Elastic Five Band. There is a $5 suggested donation to attend, and advance registration is required by June 8. To register, call 508-255-6333.

 Stevens said that she and organizers are excited about the weekend’s potential to grow into the future. A native of Orleans, she said it’s been exciting to see how acceptance of LGBTQ+ culture has evolved over time. Apart from the Pride Weekend festivities, she pointed to the Lower Cape Pride’s welcome inclusion in last year’s larger Fourth of July parade.

“I grew up in Orleans,” she said. “I went to all of the Fourth of July parades and everything, but I would have never imagined in Orleans we would have something like this.”