Dyke March logo (a black circle with a line through the center. A rainbow fills the center. Boston and March are printed on the sides of the circle and Dyke is written in the middle line.)

June 1 2025

Below you will find info on our 2025 March including performers, the map, schedule, and masking policies.

The 2025 Boston Dyke March

The 2025 March is Friday, June 13th, starting at around 6:30PM at the Parkman Bandstand. Below you'll find info on the schedule, our detailed COVID policies, our performers, and the set-up on the common.

Please Note:

  • The Boston Dyke March is a Mask Required event!
  • If you need assistance, find a member of Dyke Patrol in an orange vest. They are there to help!
  • The March is 2 miles long. There will be a first come, first serve accessibility vehicle at the end of the March.

Schedule

6:30PM - Pre-march Programming Starts

7:00PM - March Kicks Off

~7:45PM - Post-March Programming Starts

9:30PM - Event Ends

Performers and Speakers

Musical

Sweet Petunia

Two people in blue light gazing at the camera.

Sweet Petunia, composed of Mairead Guy and Maddy Simpson, are an alt folk duo based in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the years, the duo have grown into their own as both powerful songwriters and harmonizers as well as lightning quick players, beginning every set with explosive double banjo action. Unapologetically queer and unafraid to get loud and angry, they craft music that is informed just as much by their contemporaries in Boston’s punk & DIY scene as it is steeped in rich folk tradition.

Happy Little Clouds

The three members of Happy Little Clouds standing in front of an orange backdrop, Jess Townsend on the left and Derek Bergstrom in the middle are looking off in different directions, but Jac Mestel on the right is looking directly into the camera lens.

Boston-based Happy Little Clouds is a grit-pop band whose songs stick with you, rain or shine, to create an experience that strikes like lightning to the heart. Jac Mestel's unfiltered, introspective lyrics entwine with bluesy, compelling vocals and catchy-AF melodies: Frosting on a post-grunge cake oozing with authenticity. Derek Bergstrom's (Broadcaster, Volcano Kings, The Extreme Terror) creamy bass riffs mix with Mestel's chunky guitar. Jess Townsend's (World/Inferno, Ketman) unique, expressive drumming is the cherry on top.

Compared to 90s alt pop/rock artists like Veruca Salt, Soundgarden, and Alanis Morissette, HLC's music often feels like a blend of nostalgia and fresh creativity, evoking both vintage rock influences and contemporary indie sensibilities. Music blog If It's Too Loud branded them as “Almost too catchy. . . pure indie rock sunshine.” Music tastemaker, Rock Never Rusts, praised one of the band’s recent releases saying, “It’s a melodic, propulsive slice of perfection.”

The band is a power-house playing live. At a recent show at The Rockwell in Somerville, MA the band got a seated audience up on their feet. According to music blog If It's Too Loud, “People finally got out of their seats and came down to the floor. . . They’ve always been one of those bands I’m shocked isn’t one of the biggest bands in Boston, and if they keep playing sets like Saturday night’s and releasing singles like 'The Emperor’s Song,' they certainly will be.”

Dorian Wood

Medium shot of brown-skinned trans femme person with hands positioned in front of her face. Behind her is an accented dark gray background. She is wearing a long-sleeved black dress with multi-colored embroidered flowers and earrings in the shape of golden leaves.

Dorian Wood (she/they) is an anti-disciplinary artist based in the U.S. Her intent of “infecting” spaces and ideologies with her creative practice is born from a desire to challenge traditions and systems that have contributed to the marginalization of people. Her work has been showcased in concert halls and performance spaces around the world, including at institutions like The Broad (Los Angeles), Brown University (Providence), Museo Nacional Del Prado (Madrid), the City Hall of Madrid and Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris (Mexico City). Wood is a recipient of an FCA Grants for Artists Award, a Creative Capital Award, a NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant, a COLA Individual Master Artist Project Grant, an LA County Performing Arts Recovery Grant and an Art Matters Foundation Grant. In 2023, Wood premiered Canto de Todes, a touring 12-hour chamber music composition and installation that emphasizes the urgency of folk music as a conduit for social change. In 2024, Wood toured her piano-and-voice interpretation of Sinéad O'Connor's album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, honoring the late artist on the anniversary of her passing. Wood has released over a dozen recordings, most recently the albums You are clearly in perversion (2023, Astral Editions), in collaboration with Thor Harris; and Excesiva (Dragon's Eye Recordings, 2023).

BAGLY Youth Performer

Kyrus Malek

A white, shoulder length blonde, trans man with gold colored glasses with an eyebrow and septum piercings. He is wearing a black T-shirt. He is in front of a mirror, holding his phone, looking to the side.

Kyrus Malek is a 22 trans AroAce poet. He started writing poetry in 3rd grade and soon started using it to share his experiences growing up queer, chronically ill, and more. They hope other people will hear his work and relate to it, feeling less alone.

Thelonius

A very pierced trans man with light hair gazes directly into the camera.

Speakers

TreAndre Carmel Valentine & Kelsey Grunstra

Photo of a Black man smiling at the camera. He is standing in front of a stone wall. Photo of a butch white woman smiling at the camera. She is standing in front of a stone wall.

TreAndre Carmel Valentine (he/they) is a Black, Indigenous, and South Asian immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago. A fierce advocate for trans rights for almost 20 years, he is the first BIPOC Executive Director to lead the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, the oldest active transgender advocacy organization in the United States, solely focused on trans and nonbinary communities.

Kelsey Grunstra (she/her or ze/hir) is a transgender butch lesbian originally from the hills of upstate New York. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition where she works in hopes to bring to life the ideals of trans and lesbian liberation for all. Ze started hir activism journey in environmental justice and sustainability work in college and has also worked in higher education, restaurants, and libraries. Kelsey currently lives in Providence, RI with hir wife and their two scoundrel cats. Outside of that, you can find Kelsey cooking, playing music, writing, and aspiring to be a gardener.

COVID Policies

General Mask Policies

  1. Keeping the March safe and accessible for ALL is one of our core values
  2. The risks of COVID are still not understood and we MUST make the March a safe space
  3. You can still catch COVID outdoors, especially in crowds, so we ask participants to mask in designated high-crowd areas, on the March, and whenever you cannot social distance.

On the March

  1. We ask that you wear a mask AT ALL TIMES while on the March
  2. N95, KN95, or KF94 style masks are preferred and help keep everyone safe
  3. Dyke Patrol will have a limited number of KN95 masks, but please bring one

On the Common

While on the Common, we're asking everyone to please mask:

  1. while on the grass in front of the stage inside the circular walkway
  2. on the pathways
  3. by the Merch tent & all community tables

Outside of these areas, please mask where you cannot social distance

Accessibility Vehicle Mask Policies

Occupants and driver will be provided a 3M Aura mask before entering the vehicle

Occupants and driver are required to wear the provided n95 mask at all times while in the vehicle

Accessibility Vehicle Mask Alternatives

We recognize some folks have masking needs that will require an alternative mask.

Requests to wear an alternative mask can be submitted by emailing, DM'ing, or otherwise reaching out to the Dyke March by 10pm EST on June 9th.

Requests must include the brand, model id, and purchase location so that the mask can be evaluated.

Requests for alternative masking options will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

The Boston Dyke March may refuse to make exceptions for any reason, due to the high risks associated with COVID infection.

No exceptions will be made day-of due to our inability to validate alternative masks on site.

Livestream

For extremely high risk individuals, we will be offering a livestream on Youtube.

The Common

Below is the approximate set-up of our activities on Boston Common. Please note the required Masking Areas

2025 Boston Common map. Stage is to right of bandstand. Areas within the circular walkway and down the walkway by Flour are masking areas. There's a chill zone between Flour and the tennis courts. Portable toilets are down the walk past Flour.


  Main Site   Older >>