Jersey Pride's Annual LGBTI Pride Celebration, which is sponsored by Bank of America, will be held the first weekend in June in Asbury Park, NJ. The main festivities are scheduled for Sunday, but be sure to mark the entire weekend on your calendar -- you won't want to miss it.

The parade, rally, and festival take place from noon to 7 PM, rain or shine, on Sunday, June 3rd. The parade which becomes even more fabulous by the year, will not leave spectators disappointed. The parade begins at City Hall, goes up Cookman Avenue (past many of the gay-owned establishments in town), turns onto Grand Avenue and then Sunset Avenue and finishes at the festival grounds in Bradley and Atlantic parks. The parade boasts rainbow balloons, motorcycles, a horse-drawn stagecoach, floats, decorated vehicles, marching bands, walkers (both two- and four-legged), rollers, strollers, and much, much more. Expect the parade to enter the festival grounds approximately 12:45 p.m. with a flurry of sights and sounds.

More than one hundred artisans, crafters, merchants, and community organizations, as well as about twenty-five food establishments will have goods, services, and information available at the festival. Families will enjoy games and rides in the "Family Zone," sponsored by Prudential Financial. What event would be complete without comedy and music. The performance stage features stellar headline, regional, and local performers. The emcee for this event will be nationally known comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer. Not only was Suzanne Westenhoefer the first openly-gay comedian to appear on television, but she was also the inaugural emcee for NJ's Annual LGBTI Pride Celebration. We are pleased to be welcoming Suzanne back for our 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Grammy award nominee and R&B superstar Deborah Cox will headline the Pride Celebration. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart (14 weeks), a record held for nearly eight years. In December 2011 Deborah achieved her 11th number 1 hit with "If It Wasn't for Love". Cox, who made her Broadway debut in the Elton John & Tim Rice produced Aida (2004), will be returning to the theatre this Fall to star as Lucy in the Broadway-bound production of Jekyll and Hyde.

The performance stage will be jam packed with talent this year. Armed with lyrics that speak the truth and a voice rivaling Adele's - God-Des & She, a hip-hop/pop/soul duo, inspire the LGBT community in a way that has been unseen before. Trina Hamlin combines gentle understanding with raw emotion in a way that is, quite simply, captivating from the first note. She seamlessly moves from guitar to piano with self accompaniment on harmonica leaving many who have seen her wondering what she can't do. Never the Bride, "Rock's Best Kept Secret," is coming to the U.S. from across the pond. This rock 'n roll band has performed live and recorded with some of the world's top musicians: The Who, ZZ TOP, Alice Cooper, Robert Plant, Peter Frampton, and The Pretenders. Nasty Nick, the gay rapper, is an up & coming Rap Artist from Jersey City. If you're a fan of Foxy Brown and Nicki Minaj, you're sure to love Nasty Nick. Joanna Burns has just been nominated for a Jersey Acoustic Music (JAM) Award for best pop/rock act! Citing influences from Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey to Rufus Wainwright and Fiona Apple, she has concocted a delicious mixture of style, satisfying all of those interests. Athena Reich is an award winning singer/songwriter, actress, TV host, Lady Gaga Impersonator and arts educator. Originally from Toronto but now based out of New York City, she has been sweeping the nation with her renowned Lady Gaga impersonation. Born in the ghetto of West Philadelphia, Sir Honey Davenport had early dreams of breaking out and creating art that could change the world. Sir Honey is Notorious for his crazy colored mohawks, high energy powerhouse dance performances and for winning the first season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DRAG. Yellow #5 is one of the Jersey Shore's top acoustic, pop and rock bands.

Looking Back at Pride:

If you are wondering what will happen at Pride this year, take a look at what happened in past years... Over 20 years of pride!

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