San Francisco Pride weekend will bring transit changes downtown

The menagerie of colorful floats and dazzling contingents will commence at 10:30 a.m. at Embarcadero Plaza and will travel down Market Street before finishing at City Hall. Spectators can watch along the entire 1.6-mile route.

Saturday and Sunday will feature the SF Pride Celebration at Civic Center Plaza, a street fair with six entertainment stages and over 300 vendors and exhibitors. Open from noon to 6 p.m., the festival's main stage will be hosted by Sister Roma from the LGBTQ+ charity organization the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and Honey Mahogany, a local activist and performer featured on RuPaul's Drag Race.

Sunday's lineup will feature local talent and notable headliners such as Oakland rapper Kamaiyah, Latin artist Cain Culto, and New York City-based drag performer and RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Dawn.

Public transit agencies will be increasing frequency and capacity on their lines for riders looking to leave their cars at home and enjoy the festivities.

BART has four stops along the parade route — Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center stations. Saturday will have normal service, but on Sunday the agency plans to help people "ride with pride" by opening at 8 a.m. and offering five-line service. Trains will be scheduled to arrive every five minutes at the downtown stations, and the agency will adjust capacity based on ridership demands. After 9 p.m., service will be reduced to three lines.

Special event trains will be run between Millbrae and downtown San Francisco, as well as from Pleasant Hill from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m., before restarting at 2 p.m. until the evening — with the goal to supplement scheduled service and the estimated high number of passengers.

Muni will be rerouting many of the routes that regularly travel down Market Street onto Mission Street. Muni Metro light-rail vehicles will remain in service, allowing paradegoers to enter and exit at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center stations.

For attendees traveling from the Peninsula to the parade, Caltrain will be offering its half-hourly regular weekend service from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Riders can then transfer onto a Muni Metro line after arriving in the Downtown San Francisco Fourth and King station.

The San Francisco Bay Ferry will be offering additional morning service from Vallejo, Oakland and Alameda alongside their regular weekend service. Riders traveling from Richmond, Alameda or Oakland are offered free parking at ferry-affiliated structures.

For those traveling on buses, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit will be offering its regular weekend transbay services to the Salesforce Transit Center.

Golden Gate Transit will be operating its buses and ferries on its regular weekend service. Those looking to arrive early are encouraged to take the 9 a.m. Larkspur ferry that will travel directly to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal.

Besides the main Pride celebrations in downtown San Francisco, some other events will take place around the city.

The 22nd annual Trans March will take place at Dolores Park on Friday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The San Francisco Dyke March and Rally will start on Saturday at 18th and Dolores streets at 3 p.m.

Residents traveling or living in the affected areas are encouraged to check local signage and reach out to the SFMTA with any questions.

More information on the celebration of the LGBTQ+ community can be found at sfpride.org.