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Writer's pictureJoey Amato

Orlando Celebrates Come Out With Pride Week with Events and Festivals Throughout Central Florida



Orlando welcomes visitors from all over the world and all walks of life in support and celebration of LGBTQ+ pride for the 17th annual Come Out With Pride Festival in October. With more than a dozen events ranging from a 5k race featuring local drag personalities to the first-ever 2021 National Trans Visibility March held outside Washington, D.C., Orlando’s Come out with Pride week offers unique activities for everyone to enjoy and celebrate.


With Orlando’s world-famous attractions, flourishing restaurant scene and a full calendar of activities and events, visitors and locals can enjoy the destination all year round the year. To find out more about the many LGBTQ+ events and activities in Orlando year-round, go to Visit Orlando’s calendar of events.


COME OUT WITH PRIDE EVENTS


The Gay 90’s Musical (select dates Oct. 1-10), a musical revue, presented by Unseen Images Theater in partnership with Orlando’s Come Out With Pride Celebration, brings memories of gay life for men and woman during the ‘90s.


The 4th Annual Drag Race 5K (Oct. 3), hosted by Come Out with Pride and Zebra Coalition, invites attendees to bring their most colorful gear as they join several local drag personalities and hundreds of participants as they make their way through Orlando’s Baldwin Park neighborhood to raise funds for LGBTQ+ youth.


Honoring Trans & Gender-Expansive Singers (Oct. 5), presented by the Orlando Gay Chorus, features speaker Dr. Joshua Palkki, director of choral activity at California State University Long Beach, widely recognized for research and teaching on creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ singers. Aa panel of trans and gender-expansive singers will also share their personal experiences.


We Shall Overcome: Celebrate LGBT+ Diversity (Oct. 7), hosted at The Walt Disney Amphitheather at Lake Eola Park, will offer a free evening of spoken word, music and arts celebrating and acknowledging LGBT+ trailblazers of color and feature performances by the Orlando Gay Chorus, QLatinX, Bros in Convo and The Sounds of Freedom. ASL interpretation will be provided.


The 3rd Annual Come Out With Pride Shabbat Service (Oct. 8), hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando at City Hall in downtown Orlando, brings a celebration of diversity, bringing together friends and families to honor the LGBTQ+ community. The service will welcome Shabbat with Rabbi David Kay followed by an Oneg Shabbat.


Movies Out Loud Presented by Watermark (Oct. 8), features a night of hilarious commentary as Real Radio’s Sabrina Ambra and comedian Jeff Jones roast the cult classic 1995 film Showgirls at the CMX Cinemas Plaza Café 12.


Orlando's Come Out With Pride festival presented by The Glass Knife (Oct. 9, noon – 9:30 p.m.) returns for its 17th year to Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando for a celebration of LGBTQ+ pride and support featuring the Most Colorful Parade; Pride Marketplace, showcasing the goods and services of organizations who support the LGBTQ+ community in Central Florida; activities for children at the Kids Fringe Rainbow Ranch presented by Macy’s; entertainment on two sound stages and a fireworks finale.


The Most Colorful Parade presented by Winn-Dixie (Oct. 9 at 4 p.m.) will feature over 150 LGBTQ+ supportive businesses and organizations marching down the streets of downtown, in front of thousands of spectators.


The 2021 National Trans Visibility March (Oct. 9), hosted by One Orlando Alliance and Come Out With Pride, marks the first time the three-year-old event has taken place outside of Washington, D.C., anticipating over 5,000 trans and non-binary individuals and allies making their way down the streets of Downtown Orlando. This year’s theme, “No Lives Left Behind,” will focus on regional safety plans to address the number of tumultuous murders that are continually taking place with trans identified people.


The Come Out With Pride Brunch (Oct. 10), hosted on the lawn of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, continues the Come Out With Pride celebration featuring DJs, live entertainment, and great food.


Pride Night with the Orlando Magic (Oct. 10) invites guests to celebrate Come Out With Pride in a pre-season match-up as the Orlando Magic take on the San Antonio Spurs.


ADDITIONAL AFTER-HOURS & ADULTS ONLY EVENTS


Les Vixens Diznee Burlesque Show, (Oct. 6) an adults-only full-scale burlesque production presented at Southern Nights Orlando, will feature Les Vixens as they bring Diznee fantasies to life with glitter and glam.


The Official Pride After Party (Oct. 9), kicking off immediately after the festival, featuring four different venues offering four different vibes and tons of energy. Admission is free to adults 21 and older before 10 p.m.


Girls in Wonderland (Oct. 14-18), the largest celebration of gay women in Orlando, returns bringing together female DJs and other world-famous live entertainment to celebrate women in the LGBTQ community. The weekend long event will feature something for everyone including live women’s music, spectacular dance parties, celebrities, pool parties, comedy shows and more.



ELECTRIC NIGHTLIFE AND UNIQUE DINING


Hamburger Mary’s offers a flamboyant dining experience. Nightly entertainment includes the “Dining with the Divas” drag shows, Charity Bingo, Leigh Shannon’s Cabaret Dinner Show and trivia nights.


Island Time, an LGBTQ+ allied, owned and operated, wine and beer hangout, serves good food in a relaxing, non-pretentious setting, featuring an innovative Caribbean-inspired menu with Southern accents, and offers Drag Brunch every first and third Saturday and Sunday of each month.


Southern Nights Orlando provides a premiere nightclub experience for the LGBTQ+ community in Orlando featuring themed nights perfect for dancing the night away.


Savoy Orlando, a lively, multi-roomed gay nightclub, features dancers, billiards, an outdoor patio and is full of themed events for any mood, like Flashback Fridays and Musical Martini Mondays. The Men of SAVOY dancers perform nightly, making this one of the area’s prominent gay bars.


Startdust Lounge, the underground downtown Orlando nightclub is an “undiscovered treasure”, decorated with retro-chic Vegas stylings and offering burlesque performances, it transports patrons back in time to the ’60s and ’70s.


MORE TO EXPLORE IN ORLANDO

Pulse Interim Memorial Tour, In addition to honoring the 49 lives lost on June 12, 2016, serves as a beacon of hope for a future where every human being can live their truth in an understanding world full of unity, acceptance, and love. The interim memorial will be replaced by a permanent structure in the coming years.


Lake Eola, located in the heart of downtown Orlando, remains an unchanging emblem as the city has evolved from a small city centered on the citrus industry to the rapidly growing metropolis we see today. The majestic fountain and graceful swan boats for rent make the lake an exceptional amenity to the area.


The Mills 50 District is home to the largest Vietnamese American community in Florida, with an expanding enclave of authentic Asian restaurants, shops and markets. Visitors can enjoy delicious and diverse Asian cuisine like traditional pho at Pho 88, Asian fusion joints like Tako Cheena, featuring tacos and empanadas with a Pan-Asian filling or pick up groceries for a picnic at Enson Market, an Asian supermarket.


Winter Park, a picturesque, upscale area with 10 tree-lined blocks off Park Avenue with more than 140 boutiques, restaurants and specialty shops. Art appreciators can explore the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany works. Winter Park is also known for its outdoor spaces and the Winter Park Chain of Lakes, linked by a series of Venetian-style canals that guests can experience on the guided Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour.

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