Houston's Pride festival and parade, the culmination of more than a week's worth of parties and special events in June, with move to a new location and a new weekend in 2015.

Pride Houston announced today that the parade and festival will relocate to Downtown next June. The festival will surround City Hall and Tranquility Park while the parade will march down a roughly half mile L-shaped route beginning at Walker and Milam streets. Also the date will move to June 20, the second to last weekend in June instead of the final weekend in June as it has been previously. The final weekend is the traditional date for pride celebrations, commemorating the date of the Stonewall Riots that began the LGBT movement.

Organizers say the move from Montrose to Downtown allows for expansion of the festival and increased safety for attendees. It will also offer increased parking opportunities unavailable in Montrose and closer proximity to hotels for out-of-town participants. Other possible elements in the works are a giant disco ball over the parade route, additional viewing bleachers and a fireworks display following the end of the parade.

Click here to read more about the reasons for the move and a FAQ. There are also details on the new route.