Fire Island Invasion 2026

The Fire Island Invasion, held around July 4th weekend, isn't just a party. It’s an annual procession of drag queens and their entourage, a parade of elaborate costumes moving from Cherry Grove to Fire Island Pines. Since the 1970s, it’s become one of the most distinctive events in American gay culture.

It started as a protest. Cherry Grove residents, many in drag, were turned away from the Pines Pavilion. So, they showed up in force, by water taxi, in full drag, right at the Pines harbor. That original act — the mass arrival — has been repeated every year, getting more elaborate as time goes on.

The boats pulling in, the costumed "invaders" stepping onto the Pines dock, the crowd’s reaction (sometimes ready for it, sometimes not) — it’s all made the Invasion one of Fire Island’s most photographed and talked-about summer events.

It’s a celebration, yes, but also a political act and a piece of community theater, now fifty years running. The Invasion sums up the relationship between Cherry Grove and the Pines: the older, more democratic, more queer community meeting the newer, more affluent, more male-dominated one. It’s a mix of love and mockery, played out every year.