September 9 • 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Special Events
Registration Not Required

All are welcome to this celebration at the MSV! Taking place at the MSV for the first time, Winchester Pride is a free event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community that includes music, vendors, drag shows, free admission to the MSV galleries and seven-acre gardens, and food, beer/wine/hard cider available for purchase.

Special activities include a design-your-own Pride flag activity for kids, self-guided tours of the formal gardens detailing how the queer identities of the men who created the landscape influenced its design, the opportunity to see the recently opened exhibition 123 – I love you and get a glimpse into the world of MSV benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr. and the men who shaped his life and collection, a curator-led program introducing the MSV as a queer history site, and a “Talking Saves Lives” program from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Schedule for Pride 2023 at the MSV:

  • 10 a.m.: gates, galleries, gardens open; music by DJ Skyhigh begins; Vendor tables open.
  • 11 a.m.: Concern Hotline and Healing Hands Integrated Wellness present a discussion on current trends in mental health , suicide, and resource awareness for those seeking support in their lives.  Following a brief presentation, a question and discussion period will be available.

    Presented by: Rusty Holland, Executive Director, Concern Hotline; Kim Davis, LPC, Healing Hands; Laura Vaugh Sutton, Counselor in Residence, Healing Hands

  • Noon: in conjunction with the new MSV exhibition 123 -– I love you: Queer Life at Glen Burnie, Museum Curator of Collections Nick Powers will introduce the MSV campus as a site of queer history during an illustrated presentation. Learn more about the lives of MSV benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr. and his romantic partners, how they developed the Glen Burnie House and surrounding formal gardens through a queer lens, and the unique stories behind some of the fascinating objects from the Glen Burnie Queer Studies Collection currently on view in the galleries (in the Reception Hall)
  • 12:45: opening remarks and welcome speech from Winchester Mayor John David Smith
  • 1–2 p.m.: drag performances hosted by Alexa V. Shontelle and featuring Ava Rage, Candice Candy, Chasity Vain, Christina Doll; Esthetic Em, Nubia Love-Jackson, Siren Kelly, and Stephanie Michaels.
  • 2:45 p.m.: remarks from Tracy Fitzsimmons, President of Shenandoah University
  • 3 p.m.: drag performances hosted by Alexa V. Shontelle and featuring  former Miss Continental Naysha Lopez of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame!
  • No outside food/drink.
  • All day: food will be available for purchase from Taqueria la Mexicana (see menu), Roaming Bistro (see menu), 3Fires Oven, Nonni’s Eats & Sweets (see menu), I Smoke You Eat (see menu), and Sunset Slush (see menu). Drinks available for purchase include red & white wine, hard cider from Winchester Ciderworks, and beer from Winchester Brew Works
  • All day: stop in the Museum Store to enter a free drawing to win a Pride Prize Package from the MSV (featuring pride books, gift admission tickets to the Museum & more!)
  • All day: take your picture with the PRIDE LOVEwork from Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Event, gallery, and garden admission is free to all thanks to sponsor Proctor & Gamble. Food & drink available for purchase; no outside food/drink, please. Bring a chair/blanket to watch the drag shows. The event is rain/shine; dress for the weather (no canopy tents/beach umbrellas). Parking is first-come, first served (once parking areas fill, attendees will need to park offsite and use the pedestrian entrance. Presented in partnership with Winchester Pride. 

Click to see MSV policies on refunds, photography, and COVID-19 updates.

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