Pride Day moved up 2 weeks after last year's flag flap

ROCHESTER - The city's second annual Pride Day celebrating the LGBTQ community will be held Aug. 26 from 1-4 p.m.

The events is sponsored by the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, which invites the LGBTQ+ community (and those who love them) to Hanson Street and Central Square, in downtown Rochester, for a free public pride celebration.

According to a museum press release, the "mission is to promote unity, visibility, inclusivity, equality, and a positive image of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) community."

There will be more than 20 vendors and live music by Barrelhouse Blues Band, The NH Gay Men's Chorus and The Leftist Marching Band.

An informal "after party" gathering will take place around 4 p.m. at The Garage at the Governor's Inn on Wakefield Street.

The event is made possible by Rochester Main Street (supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council On The Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.) Visit www.rochestermfa.org/pride for more information.

The change in date from last year when it was held on Sept. 10 may be due to a firestorm of protest on social media that erupted when American flags were replaced with Gay Pride flags on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11.