San Mateo County will host an inaugural Pride parade as part of its annual Pride celebration this Saturday.

A promotional flyer for the San Mateo County Pride Celebration scheduled for June 10, 2023. (Courtesy SMC Pride Celebration)

Organizers started the parade in response to attacks against LGBTQ+ people across the nation.

“I thought a great way to add some light to that darkness would be a parade to celebrate the queer community,” said Kalimah Salahuddin, a community member organizing the parade with San Mateo County.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and participants will march from Second Avenue and B Street to San Mateo Central Park.

Spectators can view the parade and attend the celebration for free.

The Pride celebration will continue in San Mateo Central Park until 5 p.m. And will feature drag performers, a live DJ, resource and vendor booths, and more.

Deidre Foley is an intern at Bay City News and an MA candidate at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she specializes in data journalism and health & science reporting. Previously she was managing editor for the San Francisco Foghorn and has bylines in the NYCity News Service, Byklner and the Nagazasshi. Deidre is interested in using data and visuals to tell social justice and human interest stories.