#ThrowbackThursday: A Look Back at Pride Celebrations Through the Years

Last year, WorldPride’s first U.S. edition offered a slew of events throughout the city, including opening and closing ceremonies, the Pride Island music festival, the NYC Pride March, and more. NYC Pride’s third annual music festival took place at Hudson River Park’s Pier 97 for two days. Shown here, JJLA helmed production of the event and built a stage with arches that formed a tunnel over the pier. Jeff Consoletti, founder and principal of JJLA, said the custom stage structure was one of the largest ever built at the venue.

Skittles Canada hosted a pop-up that served as a wedding venue for four LGBTQIA+ couples. A wall displayed portraits of the four married couples rendered in Skittles. The outside of the venue featured a rainbow heart entrance. It also touted the brand’s limited-edition Pride Skittles (the brand removed its regular rainbow colors from the packaging so the Pride rainbow could be the focus of the packages). Skittles inside the packages were all white. The event was produced by Eventsing in partnership with Edelman.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the national hotel partner of the Trevor Project—a suicide prevention nonprofit for the LGBTQIA+ community—held a brunch event at Second Floor at Kimpton Hotel Eventi in New York. The event, which is part of Kimpton’s Off the Record music program, featured a festive runway for performances by drag queens including Willam and Rhea Litre. The event featured a variety of Pride-theme brunch fare, including mini rainbow yogurt parfaits. The event was catered by Laurent Tourondel Hospitality. See more: Pride 2019: 28 Thoughtful and Colorful Ways Brands Supported the LGBTQ Community

In 2018, Pride event sponsors, brands, and organizations took the opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community through engaging experiences held across the United States. From flashy floats and rainbow floral walls to voguing competitions and glittery makeovers, brands including MAC Cosmetics, T-Mobile, Postmates, VH1, Marriott, and more celebrated Pride. NYC Pride’s free event for LGBTQIA+ and ally teens took place at 14th Street Park. The event held a runway show on a wooden, rainbow-painted stage that featured the red bullseye of sponsor Target. The stage was designed by Adam Koch Associates and Design Foundry.

At NYC Pride’s 25th annual street festival, which was produced by KM Productions, sponsor V8 offered guests beverages at a colorful farmers market-inspired station. Guests could pose in front of a photo wall—designed by floral studio Iris and Virgil—that was created with different types of flowers and fruits that each represented a color of the rainbow.

The Beverly Center and The Advocate magazine kicked off 2018's Pride Month in Los Angeles with an event that celebrated the LGBTQIA+ community and the magazine's four "Champions of Pride" honorees. Event decor, which was handled by ESE Lifestyle, included a tree with rainbow origami leaves. PMK-BNC produced the event. See more: Pride 2018: 25 Highlights From Parties, Festivals, and Marches

In 2017, Pride events that took place in many U.S. cities in June presented a mix of the usual community celebrations, along with protest marches opposing President Donald Trump's administration. While the addition of protest marches added a political element to Pride Month events—one that called back to the LGBTQIA+ community's roots of speaking out for equality—Pride organizations and sponsors still offered event attendees a variety of ways to celebrate their identities. NYC Pride’s inaugural Pride Island, a three-day concert and festival experience, took place at Pier 26. The entrance to the pier featured a massive white-frame photo op with the event hashtag. Another giant decor piece at the concert area was a cutout of a candelabra. The general design of the event was provided by NYC Pride.

The Village Voice, the official media sponsor of NYC Pride Week, hosted the inaugural Pride Awards at Capitale. The event, which honored local and global LGBTQIA+ heroes, was produced by experiential agency Creative State. The ceremony featured a massive rainbow backdrop on the stage and transparent branded centerpieces designed by Surface Grooves. Pictured here, the event included a wall that invited guests to write what Pride means to them. See more: Pride 2017: 22 Highlights From Marches, Festivals, Awards, and More

In 2016, brands found it more important than ever to show their support at Pride events across the country with the then-recent mass shooting at Pulse, an LGBTIA+ nightclub in Orlando. New York's Pride celebration, NYC Pride, had sponsors showcasing flashy parade floats, activations, cocktail ideas, colorful decor, and more at events including the Pride march, Dance on the Pier, and a family movie night. Design Foundry created and installed the decor for NYC Pride events at Pier 26, which included the Teaze party and post-parade event Dance on the Pier. The decor, which was designed by Adam Koch and Steven Royal, included neon spandex truss covers and a canopy of neon flags (shown here).

BuzzFeed hosted its aptly titled "Glitter Bomb" Pride party at the Highline Ballroom. The event offered attendees three different types of Svedka cocktails with cheeky, pop culture-inspired titles including the RuPunch and Jay Z's Tears. See more: 10 Highlights of New York's Pride Celebrations