My Queer Diary: Pride Special 2025

Welcome to My Queer Diary: Pride Special.

This is a round up of Edinburgh Pride events, at least those I’ve found so far. As always the gays do like a last minute event so I’m sure things will continue to pop up in coming weeks.

I couldn’t find the mental energy to double check all the links so if something doesn’t work right you’ll have to exercise your fingertips on google.

If you’re keen on something then get tickets asap. If something has a flame emoji🔥then tickets are likely moving fast and it’ll probably sell out.

Porty Pride has a packed programme from 6-8 June so I’ve not featured every single event they have on. Check out the Porty Pride events programme for a full breakdown.

If that wasn’t enough it’s also the LEAP Sports Festival Fortnight 2025 from the 14-30 June. The programme is still being added to so check it nearer the time for more Edinburgh events.

Final disclaimer, I haven’t added a lot of regular weekly events to this, they’ll go out in the usual newsletters during June.

Week 1: Sunday 1 June - Sunday 8 June

Midnight Lunar Market Presents: Pride Edition

Sunday 1 June, 17:00-00:00, Le Monde, 16 George St, EH2 2PF

This market is in celebration of pride month, with all the wonderful light the LGBTQ+ community brings to the world. Midnight Lunar Market is an alternative night market for all unusual, gothic, witchy, quirky, weird and wonderful small businesses, artists and people

Dyke of the Year 🔥

Sunday 1 June, 21:00, Paradise Palms, 41 Lothian St, EH1 1HB

Are you a pillar in your dyke community? Are you a little freaky and geeky? Are you hot to go? Then you have to apply for DYKE OF THE YEAR! In honour of the original dyke Sappho, the competition will be held on the 1st of June to open pride at Paradise Palms!!

Glamoor!

Monday 2 June, 21:00, The Street, 2b Picardy Pl, EH1 3JT

We’re kicking off Pride month with a bang with this cast of icons! Featuring Phil Herrin, Krystal Klear, Nova Duh and Brenda Tweedy!

Milo Allan - Murray Hall

Tuesday 3 June, 19:00-20:00, The Portobello Bookshop, 46 Portobello High Street, EH15 1DA

We're excited that Milo Clenshaw and Vicky Allan, who together form the writing duo Milo Allan, are coming to the bookshop to discuss their debut novel, Murray Hall. “It is 1901, and Dr Gallagher has just pronounced Murray Hall dead. New York politico, gambler, womaniser – Hall is all these things, but when the press break the news of his death to the world, they reveal a side to his identity he never wanted known, a secret no one could have guessed.”

Trans+ Swimming Session

Wednesday 4 June, 19:00-21:00, St Leonard’s Pool, Holyrood Rd, EH8 8AQ

As part of an inclusive access to exercise pilot, we're offering a dedicated time for trans students, staff, and members of the wider Edinburgh community to enjoy movement and build confidence in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Queer Women / Queer Spaces: An evening with June Thomas & Jane Cholmeley

Wednesday 4 June, 19:00-20:00, Lighthouse Bookshop Garden, off West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB

How do places shape us? How have feminist and queer cultures been formed and forged by the rooms we gather in, the places we own, love and learn in? This Pride month we're doing a deep dive into feminist and lesbian history, to excavate our history and celebrate the women and places that laid the foundations of queer culture today!

The Queer Data Showcase

Thursday 5 June, 17:00-19:00, Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ

Hosted by Mystika Glamoor this first-of-its-kind event spotlights a curated selection of artists, academics and activists working with - or interested in - queer data as a material, concept, process or problem. Imagine a less stuffy TED talk where everyone in the room has a passion for all things QUEER DATA!

100 years of Scottish queer history

Thursday 5 June, 17:30-18:30, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, EH1 1EW

Already sold out but operating a waiting list you can join. This talk will uncover pivotal moments in Scotland’s LGBTQ+ past that have shaped its unique place in British queer history.

Pride & Prejudice - Queer Book Fair at The Georgian House 🔥

Friday 6 June, 18:00-20:00, The Georgian House, 7 Charlotte Square, EH2 4DR

Join us at The Georgian House this Pride Month as we celebrate the opening of Below Stairs Books, our new secondhand bookshop, with a special Pride Book Fair! Dotted around our historic 1790’s townhouse will be local booksellers to browse and buy a curated selection of LGBTQ+ literature, rare books, and second-hand treasures, all available for purchase.

Edinburgh Street Historians LGBTQ Free Walking Tour

Friday 6 June (and every Friday), 18:00-19:30, The High Street Wellhead, EH1 1QX

This is a walking tour of Edinburgh focusing on LGBTQ history from the battle of legalisation to the modern issues faced by the community in the current day. A trip through the heart of Scotland's capital to find out how LGBT people carved out a life in an occasionally hostile climate, past many important sites in the fight for liberation.

Queer Climbing Night

Friday 6 June, 18:00-21:00, The Climbing Hangar4 East Telferton, Edinburgh, EH7 6XD

This is open to all levels - if you are a complete beginner and want to try out bouldering for the first time - please feel welcome. The evening will have a community feel with volunteers and other climbers supporting each other.

Soapbox: The Story Sessions 🔥

Friday 6 June, 18:00-20:00, Tribe Porty, 19 Windsor Place Portobello, EH15 2AJ

Soapbox and Tribe Porty are delighted to welcome you to another evening of Story Sessions! This month, as part of Porty Pride, we’re shining a light on Queer Joy; a celebration of living authentically, loving boldly, and finding happiness in both the everyday and extraordinary moments of queer life. It’s about the moments that make us feel safe, loved, and empowered, and about the community that surrounds us with acceptance and support.

Porty Pride Film Night

Friday 6 June, 19:00-22:00, Portobello Town Hall,147-149 Portobello High Street, EH15 1AF

The Porty Pride Film night is set to return so save the date in your diaries and keep an eye on Porty Pride socials and website for more information soon!

Daytime Disco!

Saturday 7 June, 10:00-11:00, Portobello Town Hall,147-149 Portobello High Street, EH15 1AF

Brand new EHFM resident and Porty local, corn and music enthuiast Greengiant will be starting your Saturday with a bang! Their fully vinyl set will be serving up a tasty platter of global grooves, disco and generally banging tunes to make you move your body! This is very much an event for the whole family to enjoy from 1 years old to 100+! So bring everyone along and get your boogie on!

Porty Pride Dog Walk

Saturday 7 June, 11:00-12:00, Start bottom of King's Road

The Porty Pride Prom Dog Walk is back… otherwise known as The Porty Pride March! Bring your dogs, flags, banners, voices and friends. We welcome everyone with a dog or not! 10.45am meet at the bottom of Kings Road for an 11am start. Finishing at the bottom of John Street.

Protests, parades and pinkwashing: the politics of Pride, past and present and future

Saturday 7 June, 12:00-13:00, Portobello Library14 Rosefield Avenue, EH15 1AU

The Supreme Court ruling is the most recent reminder of how at risk LGBTQ+ rights are around the world. Meanwhile, in Scotland, in response to ‘pinkwashing’ and the corporate sponsorship of Pride, we’ve seen a resurgence of community-organised Prides all the way from Dumfries to Orkney, and anti-capitalist Prides which seek to put the politics back into Pride.

Big Trans Picnic

Saturday 7 June, 13:00-15:00, Cake Stand on The Beach, 49 Promenade, EH15 2BAU

Join Resisting Transphobia in Edinburgh (RTiE) on the beach for a relaxed gathering of trans people and their allies. We're here to find new friends, reconnect with familiar faces and build community together. Bring Blankets, food, water and sunscreen to share or just for yourself, well behaved children and badly behaved pets.

Porty Pride Ball 🔥

Saturday 7 June, 19:00-23:30, Portobello Town Hall, 147-149 Portobello High Street, EH15 1AF

Porty Pride Ball is back for a 4th year in a row!! This one’s been curated by Edinburgh’s own club rat and butch poet, Jj Fadaka. We don't think you're ready for this line-up… DJ Arusa Qureshi & DJ Ria Andrews, with more special guests to be announced! All introduced by our host for the night Butch Cassidy. THEME: Come dressed to show QUEER FREEDOM

Queer Yoga Edinburgh @ Porty Pride! 🔥

Sunday 8 June, 11:00-12:00, 22 Pittville Street, EH15 2BY

Join us at Porty Pride for some yoga on the beach! Open to all levels of experience. We will have around a 60 minute movement and meditation practice. To join this practice, you should be able to get yourself up and down from the floor, otherwise we suggest bringing a chair or something for support. Practice will take place on the sand.

Fun Fiddle Porty Prom Parade

Sunday 8 June, 15:00-16:00, Bottom of Brunstane Road North

Join a merry band of fiddlers of all ages as they promenade along Portobello Prom together with the Shunpike Perambulators Street Band! The event is open to the public to come and cheer us along and dance. Join in for a wee ceilidh at the end too.
Parade will start from bottom of Brunstane Road North, along to the wide bit of the prom at bottom of John Street where the wee outdoor ceilidh will be had.

Week 2: Monday 9 June - Sunday 15 June

Queer Film Night & Lighthouse Bookshop Pride Month: Before Stonewall🔥

Tuesday 10 June, 20:00-23:00, Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative, 34 Wright's Houses, EH10 4HR

Before Stonewall (1984) by Robert Rosenberg & Greta Schiller. A screening, a bookstall by Lighthouse bookshop, and a discussion. Join us for the screening of this documentary which traces what queer life was like in the US before Stonewall. Before the politics of visibility were seen as a means to an end. Through archives and interviews the film shows us what it was like before the victories of 1970s gay liberation.

No Differences

Wednesday 11 June, 16:00-17:00, Edinburgh Futures Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 1 Lauriston Place, EH3 9EF

The Gender + Sexuality Data Lab and GENDER.ED are delighted to welcome Dr Jamie Budnick (Assistant Professor, Sociology, Cornell University) to the University of Edinburgh. Jamie will explore the topic: No Differences: Debating Demographic Expertise in U.S. Marriage Equality Cases

Queer Latin Dance Party

Friday 13 June, 19:00-22:00, The Mash House, 37 Guthrie Street, EH1 1JG

While we love to dance, this event is just as much about fostering connections and providing a safe space to simply be. Whether you're here to bust a move or just to chat and enjoy the vibe, you're equally welcome and valued. Bachata Class, followed by Social Dancing.

Eden Rock Pride Party

Saturday 14 June, 12:00-16:00, Eden Rock Edinburgh, Edgefield Road Industrial Estate, Loanhead, EH20 9TB

Queer people and allies! New or old! Everyone is welcome! Our Pride Party is a guaranteed good time. Keep an eye out here on our socials (and posters around the centre) for more details to come. So far we can confirm that there will indeed be a fun comp, a raffle, ice cream and crafts!

Bear Scots Social

Saturday 14 June, 21:00-01:00, Regent Bar, 2 Montrose Terrace, EH7 5DL

We have the private use of the back lounge and the space is ours, you can just turn up, sit down at one of our tables and say hello… everyone is welcome. It’s perfect night to meet up with old friends or make some new ones. If it’s your first time, look out for one of the volunteers with the chocolates and say hello, and they can introduce you to the bears.

Week 3: Monday 16 June - Sunday 22 June

Second Skin : Inside the Worlds of Fetish, Kink and Deviant Desire

Tuesday 17 June, 19:00-20:00, Lighthouse Bookshop, 43-45 West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB

In 21st century commodity culture, we are all, in a sense, fetishists. We think of fetish as existing ‘behind closed doors’, yet it plays out in clubs rammed with hundreds of bodies, on live streams for tens of thousands of subscribers, and in the pages of Vogue and on high fashion runways. In Second Skin, Anastasiia Fedorova takes us on a tour through different fetishes – leather, latex, cars, medical gloves, and the dominatrix, to name a few.

Fag of the Year

Wednesday 18 June, 22:00, Paradise Palms, 41 Lothian Street, EH1 1HB

You’ve heard of Fruit Salad’s incredible competition “dyke of the year”, but it’s time for gay men and thems to finally have their moment to shine. Are you a fag with a special talent? A gay skill you’d like to flaunt? An extra limp wrist? Any proof that f*gs actually have any discernible talents? Apply to compete now! We will award three different prizes, all while raising funds for Waverley Care!

LEAP Sports Festival Fencing Taster

Thursday 19 June, 18:30-20:30, Leith Community Centre, 12A Newkirkgate, Leith, EH6 6AD

We are Dunedin Fencing Club, an inclusive Edinburgh sports group aiming to make the sport of fencing more accessible and welcoming to all. Join us for a fun filled taster session of fencing games and new friends! Open to anyone over 16 who’s part of the Pride community for anyone of any ability, experience and fitness. All kit is provided.

Lecture Series: Defamation and Desire: Exploring Edinburgh's Queer History 🔥

Thursday 19 June, 19:00-20:00, Gladstone's Land, 477B Lawnmarket Royal Mile, EH1 2NT

Join us as we uncover the fascinating and complex story of Jane Pirie, a former resident of Gladstone’s Land. In 1810, Pirie and fellow teacher Marianne Woods became embroiled in a scandalous defamation case after a student accused them of being in a same-sex relationship.

This Princess Kills Monsters: Queer Fairytale night with Ry Herman

Thursday 19 June, 19:00-20:00, Lighthouse Bookshop Garden, off West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB

Ry Herman has outdone themself with their latest offering, This Princess Kills Monsters, in which a princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on horrible monsters, a dozen identical masked heroes, and a talking lion in a quest to save a kingdom—and herself—in an affectionate satire of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale The Twelve Huntsmen.

June Zine Club

Friday 20 June, 14:00-16:00, Kafe Kweer, 5 St Peter’s Buildings, EH3 9PG

Bring your own projects to work on or dive into our collection of collage materials and art supplies to make your zines! We will have a bunch of prompts lists if you are stuck for ideas! We also welcome you to bring your own zines for creative feedback, self-promotion, ideas, and/or to trade with others!!

Edinburgh Frontrunners 5K Pride Run 🔥

Friday 20 June, 19:00 (Registration and number pick up is from 18:00-18:45), Holyrood Park, EH8 8HG

The Edinburgh Frontrunners 5K Pride run is back - and this time it's bigger and better than ever! Happening on the eve of the Edinburgh Pride event, we are delighted to be running around the beautiful Holyrood Park.

Paddling with Pride 2025

Friday 20 - Sunday 22 June, Grandtully Station Campsite, Lageonan Rd, Grandtully, Pitlochry, PH9 0PL,

Ok so not technically Edinburgh but you might like it anyway! We hope this event will provide a new opportunity for LGBTQ+ paddlers to enjoy the beautiful rivers and lochs and to form networks that will act as platform for us to organise further activities and events in the future across Scotland.

Pride Breakfast 🔥

Saturday 21 June, 10:00-12:30, Dynamic Earth, Holyrood Road, EH8 8AS

LGBT Health and Wellbeing proudly present this event in partnership with Dynamic Earth. We warmly welcome you for an accessible gathering on the morning of Pride in Edinburgh. Event includes climate crafts and activities, breakfast, welcome and short speeches, Ivy Big Band performance.

Edinburgh Pride March

Saturday 21 June, 12:30 for a 13:00 start, Scottish Parliament, EH99 1SP

From the Parliament the March will then go to: Canongate, High Street, George IV Bridge, Bristo Place, Lothian Street, Potterrow, Crichton Street, Charles Street and finish at The Pride Edinburgh Festival Village in the EUSA Complex.

If you’ve not been to the Edinburgh Pride march before then there is no registration for regular people, just turn up and insert yourself. It is also usually fairly chaotic and not planned with accessibility in mind. Sometimes there is a bus you can book on to if you might have trouble walking the route but spaces are limited - nothing has been announced at time of writing so keep an eye on the internet.

Pride was a Riot! Edinburgh Pride Unofficial Punk Afterparty

Saturday 21 June, 19:00-22:30, Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art
Lauriston Architecture Building, Lady Lawson Street, EH3 9DF

Queer punk live music from 3 rad acts! To be announced.

REVERENCE X PRIDE

Saturday 21 June, 19:00-22:30, The Banshee Labyrinth, 29-35 Niddry Street, EH1 1LG

New and fresh independent sounds: alt-rock / metal / post-punk / goth featuring: Shambolica, Demi & The Urge, Somnia & Dylan Wilson.

DILF Edinburgh: Pride

Saturday 21 June, 22:00-03:00, La Belle Angele, 11 Hastie's Cl, EH1 1HJ

A dance party for bears, cubs, leathermen, rubbermen, jocks, pups + more. Pride anthems, floor fillers, vocal house. Application for a 4am licence pending…

Crochet Club Edinburgh - Rainbows

Sunday 22 June, 10:00-12:30, Santosa Café, 21 Albert Street, EH7 5LH

A fun and creative crochet workshop with a fun, rainbow theme! This hands-on session will guide you step-by-step to create your very own handmade, decorative rainbow with tassles. This workshop is suitable for beginners as we use a repetitive pattern and a commonly used crochet stitch.

Week 4: Monday 23 June onwards

Looks like everyone is running low on energy late in the month! I’m sure some things will be announced and I’ll feature them in the regular newsletter as they come out.

Sneaking in a July event cus it’s a Pride one…

Pride Zine-Making Workshop 🔥

Saturday 5 July, 12:30-13:30, Out Of The Blue Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny Street, EH6 8RG

Join Coin-Operated Press at the MnB Proud All Year Round Market to create your very own mini-zine inspired by all things pride! We will provide all of the materials to make your zines, but please feel free to bring along some of your own collage supplies if you want to add a personal touch to your zines! All experience levels are welcome and we will take you through the steps to fold your mini-zine - there will also be a bunch of prompts to pick from in case you are feeling a little stuck for ideas on the day!