Freedom of Community
WorldPride Welcome + Visual Arts Center
The Welcome Center is the WorldPride 2025 community hub where you can drop in for information about anything and everything related to WorldPride 2025 and Washington DC!
Plus, there will be phone charging stations, a Fabric of Freedom lounge area, official WorldPride 2025 merchandise for sale, and a fantastic, curated art exhibit for all to enjoy.
*Free and open to the public.
In partnership with Destination DC.
May 17 – June 8, 2025
Hours Below
737 7th Street NW
(Between G and H Streets)
Hours
Open Saturday, May 17th & Sunday, May 18th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM each day
Open Saturday, May 24th & Sunday, May 25th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM each day
Open Daily Friday, May 30th – Sunday June 8th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location
The WorldPride 2025 Welcome Center is located in the heart of downtown Washington DC.
Address: 737 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20021 (between G St. and H St.)
Nearest Metro Stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown
Events
Friday, May 30, 2025
Garden of Swann – WorldPride 2025 Queer Fashion Show
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Join young fashion designers from across the nation as they transform the runway into a sacred garden of beauty, resistance and self-expression, paying homage to the legendary queer activist William Dorsey Swann.
Prepare to be captivated as queer stories take root and flourish in an immersive celebration of identity, artistry, history and pride.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Indigenous Drag Story Hour with Lady Shug
11:00 am – 12:00 noon
World Pride ’25 presents Indigenous Drag Story Hour with Lady Shug!
Suggested for all ages, particularly families with pre-school and elementary kiddos!
The LaLa Land Back: Indigenous Drag Story Hour emphasizes Native language, stories, and culture utilizing inclusive picture books and pre-literacy skills for school-aged children and their families. This performance brought to audiences free of charge, courtesy of World Pride!
Featured on HBO’s “We’re Here”, Diné drag artist Lady Shug supports border towns and communities within and alongside their reservation through the #ShugChallenge mutual aid program.
Storytelling with Saris Workshop
12:00 noon – 2:00 pm
Over the last decade, Storytelling with Saris workshops, performances, and installations have engaged thousands of people in 12 U.S. states and 8 countries, including Bangladesh, Canada, France, Greece, and Italy. Recent Storytelling with Saris projects, performances, workshops, and roundtables in the U.S. and Bangladesh have specifically focused on LGBTQ+ issues, gender roles and identity, bodily autonomy, and increasing understanding and acceptance of gender-nonconforming persons through discussion, education, and collaborative art and performance.
At the WorldPride Welcome Center, Storytelling with Saris will present two healing and empowering art and poetry workshops on gender/sexuality/identity to foster greater inclusion, empathy, and pride in this difficult political climate. The workshops will culminate in a community performance and march opportunity on June 7-8.
STEAM-themed Drag Story Hour with Professor Longlegs
3:00 pm – 4:00pm
Join us for a STEAM-themed Drag Story Hour with Professor Longlegs! Get ready for a fabulous afternoon filled with storytelling and entertainment. Professor Longlegs will captivate audiences of all ages with their unique flair and charm.
This in-person event will be held at the WorldPride Welcome Center, so mark your calendars and bring your family along for a fun-filled experience!
Don’t miss out on this delightful event that celebrates diversity, inclusion, and the joy of storytelling. See you there!
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Bilingual Drag Story Hour (Spanish/English) with Ricky Rose
11:00 am – 12:00 noon
Join us for Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose! Come to the World Pride Welcome Center for a fabulous event where Drag King Ricky Rose will read enchanting stories in English and Spanish. This in-person event promises fun, laughter, and a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Let Ricky Rose captivate you with tales that will spark your imagination and warm your heart. Don’t miss out on this unique and entertaining experience!
Storytelling with Saris Workshop
12:00 noon – 3:00 pm
Over the last decade, Storytelling with Saris workshops, performances, and installations have engaged thousands of people in 12 U.S. states and 8 countries, including Bangladesh, Canada, France, Greece, and Italy. Recent Storytelling with Saris projects, performances, workshops, and roundtables in the U.S. and Bangladesh have specifically focused on LGBTQ+ issues, gender roles and identity, bodily autonomy, and increasing understanding and acceptance of gender-nonconforming persons through discussion, education, and collaborative art and performance.
At the WorldPride Welcome Center, Storytelling with Saris will present two healing and empowering art and poetry workshops on gender/sexuality/identity to foster greater inclusion, empathy, and pride in this difficult political climate. The workshops will culminate in a community performance and march opportunity on June 7-8.
Bilingual Drag Story Hour (Spanish/English) with Ricky Rose
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Join us for Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose! Come to the World Pride Welcome Center for a fabulous event where Drag King Ricky Rose will read enchanting stories in English and Spanish. This in-person event promises fun, laughter, and a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Let Ricky Rose captivate you with tales that will spark your imagination and warm your heart. Don’t miss out on this unique and entertaining experience!
“For Eon” Interactive Performance
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Artist Miriam Julianna will be present on the first floor of the WorldPride Welcome Center. The viewers are invited by the curator to take a seat across from the artist, watch the artist fold a paper crane, and listen to the “For Eon” story. Each listener is gifted a crane at the end of the story telling performance.
Monday, June 2, 2025
Queer Romance Authors Panel
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Join Capital Pride Alliance for an exploration of one of the most read genres in the world–romance–but with a queer twist. SC Nealy, who writes under the pen name Sarah Robinson, will moderate a discussion with three fellow writers.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
One Night Only: Earline Budd
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Join us for an unforgettable evening as we come together to honor the remarkable Earline Budd – a trail blazer, advocate, and icon who has spent over two decades uplifting and empowering the LGBTQIA+ community, especially Black trans women, in Washington, DC.
Visual Art on Display
AIDS Memorial Quilts
Various artists
- #4289 In remembrance of Max Lee Ahrendt
- #4368 In remembrance of Carl D States
- #4173 In remembrance of Stephen Loy
- #3868, #1287, and #552 in remembrance of DMV residents and international friends
“For Eon” Color Field
Miriam Julianna
Helix
Liz Ashe
SilkPride Installation
Leo Anderson
Storytelling with Saris
Monica Johan Bose
Flag in the Map
Charles Beal
Bumfuzzle, III, Snakeskin, Children, and Color Rave
Hazem Mansour
ACLU “Freedom to Be” Quilts
(Starting May 25)
Amsterdam Pride Dress
(Starting June 3)