Gray skies gave way to a sunny Broadway celebration of Pride this year. Appropriately themed Rain to Rainbows, PrideFest drew a large crowd of glitter and rainbows-adorned LGBTQ+ Seattleites and their allies to Broadway and Cal Anderson.
PrideFest Capitol Hill again turned Broadway from John to Roy into a party street. Hosted by local teen drag queen Rainbow Gore Cake, its main stage featured a variety of DJs, live performances, and special drag guests. An all-day karaoke stage drew performers across a variety of genres, drumlines and street performers wowed crowds, and the cast of Julia’s on Broadway put on a spectacular drag show.
Rainbow Gore Cake was at the center of things Saturday on Broadway
Capitol Hill Pride: Festivities for Capitol Hill Pride took over Cal Anderson Park with everything from drag queen story time to water balloon contests, artists and performances, and the annual doggie drag contest. Open to all ages, the Pride celebration at Cal Anderson Park is family oriented, including Queer Youth Pride, an event in its third year featuring DJs, spoken-word performances, and live open mics.
A number of local performers participated in the event alongside dance collective The Purple Lemonade, and Youth Speaks, a social justice and youth leadership group here in Seattle.
Doggie Drag: Benefiting the Seattle Humane Society, drag queens Gaysha Starr, DonnaTella Howe, Kara Sutra, Siren/Haily Ms. Gay Seattle, and Gina King judged a lineup of fabulous dragged-up pooches.
Drawing one of the most engaged and packed crowds was Doggie Drag, with five competition categories and plenty of entries in each. Dogs competed in Celebrity Impawsinator, Rainbowriffic, Animal Impawsinator, Ruffest Look, and Most Furrbulous. With a $10 entry fee for each dog competing, the event raised money for Seattle Humane’s Pet Project.
Some personal news: My dog just won the Seattle Pride's doggie drag show in the celebrity impawsinator category. pic.twitter.com/x8LCqgbsSn
— Paige Cornwell (@pgcornwell) June 23, 2018
“The Pet Project is a program that supports pet owners of low income communities and pet owners affected by HIV/AIDS. We provide services for pets while these individuals undergo treatment – pet food, vet clinics. Today was for both fundraising and awesomeness,” Amanda Anderson of Seattle Humane said after the contest.
Dyke March #Pride2018 pic.twitter.com/HbqMdiSzPF
— Mª Carolina Cintra (@mariacarol) June 24, 2018
Dyke March: Kicking off at Seattle Central College, Seattle Dyke March began its 25th year hosted by a variety of guest speakers, and led by Seattle Dykes on Bikes.
Whitney Fraser, President of the Seattle Dyke March nonprofit, said of the event, “We’re proud of keeping the event on Capitol Hill, and the dykes that we attract to this event, we know people rely on coming back to it year after year.”
Fraser has been helping to organize the march since 2000 and confirmed that the Dyke March has been the longest-running of any Pride event on Capitol Hill. The event gives the opportunity for individuals to hear political speakers “a little more on the radical side.”
Also, don’t miss CHS coverage of Friday night’s Trans Pride.
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Lets start a community effort for a permanent extra large flag in Cal Anderson Park similar to the large Pride flag in San Francisco Castro District.
If Seattle LGBTQ community can raise $50-55,000 PER year for a Space Needle flag, its more impactful to have a Huge Pride Flag proudly flying its colors permanently on Capitol Hill.
The dyke march attracts few dukes but many dykes…please correct the typo!
Put up your… dykes!