(Image: Queer/Pride Festival)
One of the biggest concerns amid the complaints around the annual Capitol Hill Block Party’s three-day domination of Pike/Pine is that the music festival can leave some of the neighborhood’s core communities and businesses out of the fun.
After years of focus on proposals to reshape the July music event, organizers of the Queer/Pride Festival June celebration of queer culture and Pride are, instead, embracing the Block Party route.
The 2023 QPF, as the producers are calling it, will take on closer to CHBP proportions. UPDATE: Burgess points out the footprint of the festival will remain constrained to 11th Ave — far from Block Party’s much larger footprint that extends across an area stretching from Broadway to 12th.
“QPF returns this summer bigger and better than ever,” producer Joey Burgess of the Queer/Bar family of businesses announced Tuesday about plans for the 2023 event. “We’re lighting up our stages with some of the hottest artists from around the world, and we’ve expanded our overall footprint to include a larger stage, bigger screens, and more food and beverage offerings.”
This week’s lineup announcement doesn’t quite rival the Block Party’s 2023 acts dropped last week — but the QPF party is clearly growing.
QUEER/PRIDE FESTIVAL (QPF) LINEUP June 23|24|25 2023
HEADLINERS
· Orville Peck | Currently on tour with Bronco album, scout + judge on the new Apple TV+ music competition series, “My Kind of Country,” premiering March 24.
· Trixie Mattel | Returning to Seattle after sold-out shows at the Paramount (2022), starring in discovery+ reality renovation show “Trixie Motel,” The Blonde and Pink Albums out now.
· Pabllo Vittar | Grammy-nominated megastar coming off her recent historic set at Coachella, 12M+ Instagram followers.
· Peaches | Feminist icon pop provocateur, returning to Seattle after sold-out “The Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour 2022” show at The Showbox.
· Charo | Legacy performance by the pop culture icon.
Other performances include Seattle’s hometown heroine and Queer/Bar stage star Bosco (cast member from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14) and current Season 15 Drag Race megastars and queens Sasha Colby, Luxx Noir London, and Mistress Isabelle Brooks.
(Image: Queer/Bar)
The larger Queer/Pride Festival took shape last year as Capitol Hill’s Pride events got back on track in 2022 following years of pandemic cancellations and rescheduling. In 2023, the festival will again be part of beer gardens, stages, and parties throughout Pike/Pine as other elements like the annual Broadway street fair are also planned to return.
Burgess and Murf Hall are “husbands, business partners, and owners” of several Pike/Pine businesses including Queer/Bar and Cuff Complex. 2022 included the duo adding the iconic Elliott Bay Book Company and neighboring Oddfellows Cafe to their Murf Hall ownership group.
Capitol Hill Block Party, meanwhile, will return in July to celebrate its 25th year in Pike/Pine.
Learn more and purchase tickets beginning Wednesday, March 8th at queerpridefestival.com.
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