Baltimore Pride is changing its block party tradition. Here’s why.

Facing new city restrictions tied to the growing size of Baltimore Pride celebrations, organizers are modifying this year’s festivities — moving the annual block party, expanding events into a full week and leaning on sponsors to keep the city’s 51st Pride celebration going.

Pride events will kick off June 8 and end with the highly attended Pride in the Park festival June 14 in Druid Hill Park, which will be headlined by En Vogue, said Tramour Wilson, one of the organizers with the Pride Center of Maryland.

Wilson said the changes came after city restrictions to its celebrations, but the organization is excited about the “continuously growing” and “successful” Pride week in Baltimore.

The Pride Parade will be on Charles Street from noon-3 p.m., as it has been in recent years. The most notable change will be the annual Saturday block party, which will take place after the parade at Druid Hill Park until 9 p.m.

The block party has historically been hosted at a location toward the end of the parade. This year, the city requested the location change due to the growing number of people who attend, Wilson said.

“This was not a change that the Pride Center requested or wanted,” Wilson said. But he added it was better than moving the parade to the park as well, making its participants less visible.

“The parade was a protest 50-plus years ago,” he said. “We were protesting for inclusivity, we were protesting for visibility, and both of those things were things we considered when we had to make the hard decision to separate the parade from the block party.”

The mayor’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Pride Center has also planned for more events this year over the course of an entire week rather than four days. The lineup includes a happy hour in Station North on June 9, a resource and job fair at War Memorial Plaza on June 10 and a skate night for young people and families on June 11.

“Some people have anxiety around those large groups,” Wilson said, so the organization wanted to ensure “everyone could still enjoy Pride.”

The week will begin June 8 with a news conference with local leaders and sponsors “who have decided to still sponsor and support Baltimore Pride,” said Wilson, even though some organizations that support Pride have had federal funds slashed.

“We just really wanted to highlight those who have continued to support us and who have continued to support the mission of LGBTQ history and LGBTQ pride in Baltimore,” Wilson said.

To find out more, visit the Baltimore Pride website.