Pagan Pride - What is it?
- mythictreasures
- Aug 6
- 2 min read
The Pagan Pride Project is an international nonprofit organization founded in the early 1990s, aiming to promote awareness and acceptance of Pagan religions through education, activism, charity, and community-building. The Project empowers Pagans and allies to celebrate beliefs in a respectful, community-minded, and public-facing way. Whether you're curious, a practitioner, or a supportive ally, these festivals offer welcoming spaces for learning, celebration, and service.
On Pagan Pride Day the general public, including families and children, are welcome to attend festivals in parks or public venues. The festivals are usually held in late summer or early autumn, often coinciding with the harvest festival of Mabon (the autumn equinox). The day is marked by gatherings, rituals, workshops, music, and community outreach, such as a food drive. It’s a great opportunity for Pagans to connect with each other and the general public, to help dispel myths and share practices from various Pagan traditions.
Pagan Pride events range from open-air social gatherings to large festivals featuring performances, workshops, drumming circles, vendors, readers and rituals. Rochester hosted its own Pagan Pride festival from 1999 to mid‑2000s. It was usually held at Ellison Park, but the group hasn't been active in recent years. There has been interest to start the festivals up again. Western NY Pagan Pride is holding a meet and greet in Rochester to talk with local Pagans to see if they are interested in the expansion of Western NY Pagan Pride. The goal being to create solidarity, visibility and support for the many pagans through a larger more inclusive organization. There is also another regional chapter located in Central New York-Syracuse.
The hope is that by being more visible, it will counter the stereotypes about Pagans and promote religious acceptance. To improve visibility, many chapters support their community by volunteering with other humanitarian organizations or they hold events where the general public is welcome and can participate. The goal again is for the public to get a better understanding of what paganism really is.
For further information about the Pagan Pride Organization you can visit their website: https://new.paganpride.org/home
Central NY Pagan Pride is on Facebook. Their Pagan Pride Day is held on Saturday, September 20th https://www.facebook.com/cnyppd
Western NY Pagan Pride is on Facebook. Their Pagan Pride Day is held
on Sunday, October 12th https://www.facebook.com/WNYPaganPride
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