Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) and Edge on the Square uplift and rally around Chinatown's queer stories and community with Chinatown Pride 2025: We are Immortal!, a neighborhood-wide Pride party that builds on Chinatown's legacy as a refuge for free spirits, rebels, dreamers, and all who have fought and continue to fight for a just and inclusive world. The free evening event features a Pride procession led by artists from the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, with dance stops along the way; performances by API drag troupe The Rice Rockettes; a silent disco on the bridge over Kearny Street; hands-on art activities and activations; and much more.
Schedule of Activities
Co-Presented by the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) and Edge on the Square on May 24th, 2025, 6-10 pm
6 pm - Pride Procession Starts
Edge on the Square - 800 Grant Ave
6-10 pm - Pride Program Location
CCC Pedestrian Bridge & Ballroom - 750 Kearny St - Third Floor
Art activities, Performance and Silent Disco
Tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chinatown-pride-2025-silent-disco-fundraiser-tickets-1319468107629
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"For 60 years, CCC has been a dynamic hub for art, social transformation, and community advocacy. As we celebrate this important anniversary, we recognize the urgent need to empower our increasingly marginalized LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities," says Jenny Leung, Executive Director, CCC. "This is such a powerful collaboration for Edge on the Square and CCC and represents an important moment for Chinatown organizations to take a stand together."
The first Chinatown Pride was launched in 2021 by CCC, bringing together a virtual community during the height of the pandemic lockdown. Now in person for its second iteration and with expanded reach and impact through the co-presentation with Edge on the Square, the communal experience unapologetically claims public space at this pivotal time.
"This year as we mark AAPI Heritage Month and Queer Trans Asian Pacific Islander Week, we are using our collective voice to uplift, center inclusion, and revel in radical joy. We invite the public to come resist and dance through Chinatown in solidarity," says Joanne Lee, Executive Director, Edge on the Square.
"In Chinatown, where every street holds the echoes of defiance and refuge, we dance," says Candace Huey, Head Curator, Edge on the Square. "We transcend silence and oppression with vibrant aliveness and the bold, unyielding voices of a community that is resolute in its existence. 'We are Immortal' is not just a theme - it is a declaration that our identities, our histories, and our dreams defy the forces that seek to silence us."
The evening party begins at Edge on the Square (800 Grant Avenue) at 6pm with an inaugural Chinatown Pride Procession led by artists from the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA). Learning dance moves along the way, participants will journey on foot to several of Chinatown's queer historical landmarks and significant spaces such as the former Rickshaw gay bar, site of a 1943 raid and riot. The Procession culminates on the open air Dr. Rolland and Kathryn Lowe Community Bridge (pedestrian bridge spanning Kearny Street), renamed The Immortal Runway for this event. Audiences can enjoy performances by the Bay Area's premier API drag troupe The Rice Rockettes and GAPA runway artists from 6:30-7pm. The bridge bash continues with DJs and a silent disco, capping the evening from 7-10pm.
A community resource fair and art activations take place throughout the evening on the Runway and in the adjacent CCC galleries. Artist Bijun Liang's "Arm Day, Leg Day" is a large-scale inflatable installation, commissioned by CCC, that offers a playful take on traditional Chinese guardian lions and beckoning cats. Attendees are encouraged to gently pet them for protection and luck.
The public can also participate in numerous interactive art activity stations led by queer Asian artists, as well as the Demons Yearbook Station. Demons Yearbook is a CCC art education project in collaboration with San Francisco high schools. Inky Fingers Print Collective, a local BIPOC, queer, and justice-driven collective, worked with 100 students this spring, transforming personal and collective hauntings (unseen and unspoken struggles) into zines and comics. The powerful anthology of the ghosts, demons, and spirits that define their realities will be celebrated during the evening event, and the public will get a chance to customize their very own copy of the Yearbook.
A bar will offer drinks, snacks, and nonalcoholic beverages for sale. Limited edition merch from the CCC Design Store will also be available.
Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
For 60 years, the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC) has uplifted Chinatown through the arts as both a vibrant neighborhood and a powerful metaphor for the immigrant experience. Founded in 1965 amid the civil rights movement, CCC emerged as a bold response to racism, displacement, and gentrification. From a hard-won cultural space, it has evolved into a dynamic hub that shifts narratives, supports innovative art, and advances social justice.
CCC amplifies marginalized voices, reclaims public space, and strengthens community through exhibitions, festivals, and educational programs. Signature initiatives include C.H.A.T. Chinatown History Art Tours, the XianRui Artist Series, and the 41 Ross Artist-in-Residence program. With locations at Kearny, Ross Alley, and the newly acquired 667 Grant Ave, CCC continues to champion immigrant and LGBTQIA2S+ rights. Recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and other major foundations, CCC celebrates its 60th anniversary with Chinatown Pride, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and its Gala.
https://www.cccsf.us
Edge on the Square
Located at the heart of San Francisco Chinatown and the first project envisioned by Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative (CMAC), Edge on the Square is a year-round contemporary art hub for activists, artists, designers, educators, entrepreneurs, scholars, and technologists. Cultivating an inventive and collaborative model for contemporary art experimentation and visitor experience, our programs will harness the energy and excitement of art and media to expand the neighborhood's dynamic artistic and cultural diversity, as well as our understanding of our collective history and the full spectrum of American pluralism. We believe that the transformative power of art is critical to strengthening communities and catalyzing positive social change. 800 Grant Avenue, San Francisco.
https://www.edgeonthesquare.org
Image Credit: Graphic by Valerie Liu