Pride month is the annual celebration of LGBTQ rights, freedom and visibility. Every year, millions of people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and their allies gather for celebrations, parades, and parties. The main purpose is to celebrate the impact of LGBTQ people and the continued efforts of LGBTQ activists worldwide.

Pride celebrations occur most often during the month of June, but there are many different ways to show your pride at different events throughout the year. Swipe forward to view photos from these annual LGBTQ gatherings.

Outfest | Los Angeles

Outfest is an annual film festival held in July, that was founded in 1982 by a group of students at UCLA. According to the Outfest organization, the festival’s purpose is to, “promote LGBTQ equality by creating, sharing and protecting LGBTQ stories on the screen.” Outfest has showcased thousands of films over the course of its three decades in operation.

Photography: Outfest

Gay Wine Weekend | Sonoma, California

Wine country event and travel company Out in the Vineyard provide exclusive, luxury experiences created specifically for the LGBTQ community. Every July, the company holds Gay Wine Weekend — a celebration complete with winery tours and winemaker dinners, meant to benefit Sonoma County’s HIV/AIDS network, Face to Face. Participants get to indulge in world-class wine, music, dancing, VIP receptions, a drag queen brunch, a pool party and even a wine auction.

Photography: Out in the Vineyard

Milkshake | Amsterdam

The Netherlandish weekend music festival Milkshake occurs every year on the heels of Amsterdam’s pride week in late July. Global DJ’s, drag queens and all sorts of different performers showcase their talents at this annual festival which usually sees thousands of guests. Known for its inclusivity on all fronts, the organization even hosts a section of their website that contains a glossary with definitions of terms commonly used within LGBTQ communities.

Photography: Dennis Bouman

Sparklefest | Manchester, England

Sparkle Weekend is an annual summertime event held by Sparkle — a UK based transgender charity organization. The organization started Sparkle Weekend as a grassroots community event in 2005 and since then, it has grown to a large volunteer-led event that attracted more than 18,000 people in 2018. Chock full of performances and smaller events, the free, three-day gathering is a must-attend for the trans, non-binary/gender-fluid and intersex community in Manchester, England area during July.

Photography: Sparkle

Southern Decadence | New Orleans

Every Labor Day weekend down in the Big Easy, hundreds of thousands of people make their way down south for Southern Decadence — a six-day event held as an end-of-the-summer party where party-goers dress as their favorite decadent southern characters. Often referred to as “Gay Mardi Gras,” the event ends in a huge walking parade starting at the corner of Bourbon and St. Anne Street.

Photography: Noé Cugny