There are a wealth of activities to choose from to celebrate Pride in the Hudson Valley this year including festivals, fairs and parades. Plan your 2024 Pride Month calendar ahead of time with the help of PrideMapHV.com. Current listings include the following.
Saturday, June 1st
Celebrating will be easy with so many options to choose from. Come back to PrideMapHV.com for updates as they become available. OUTNewburgh-Beacon will be there to enjoy the festivities with you! Be sure to leave a comment telling us about favorite events that you've attended and where you plan to celebrate.
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New Pride Map launches this March highlighting venues offering LGBTQ events in the Hudson Valley2/21/2024
Tune in for the official launch of the map on March 15th and check us out over the upcoming weeks for a soft launch to test our concept. And by all means, get out there! Enjoy our great neighbors, communities, and businesses, and all that the Hudson Valley has to offer.
To display an ad or have your venue and its upcoming events highlighted, email Niki Thompson at [email protected]. While there have always been obstacles that the LGBTQ community has faced, finding performances geared to us here in the Hudson Valley is not currently one of them.
Among a number of companies offering LGBTQ programming in the Hudson Valley, one outstanding option, bringing us music and drag performance is OUT LOUD Hudson Valley, run by Jimmy Prada and Davide Gregorio. Jimmy and Davide have been bringing talented drag and gay performers to the stage for a long time. First in New York City, and now in the Hudson Valley. Though they never met on the scene in the city, in February 2022, after both Jimmy and Davide moved back upstate following the pandemic, they formed OUT LOUD Hudson Valley. From early successes on the New York City scene, these purveyors of drag performance have expanded their reach, both locally and as far as Albany. Through their combined decades of work in NYC, Jimmy and Davide each independently forged strong relationships with queer and drag performers. As a result, they are able to call on those long-term relationships to bring that talent to our area. Often, when first taking their shows on the road, performers will reach out to the OUT LOUD crew to collaborate. This connection to well-known performers also allows Jimmy and Davide to introduce new talent on the scene. A top billed performer will often bring other performers with them to the stage. Moreover, the team seeks to engage local performers in their shows as well. This year, OUT LOUD Hudson Valley kicked off the year with the Snow Ball at the Jet Set Tiki Bar on the Newburgh waterfront. They held Pride month events at Angry Orchard and the New Paltz Pride Parade and Festival in June, followed by their Summer Tea Dance Series, with dances held at the Hudson House & Distillery in West Park, Refinery 51 in Poughkeepsie, Revel 32 in Poughkeepsie, Locust Grove Brewing Company in Milton, and the Academy in Poughkeepsie. Although known for their tea dances and concerts throughout the warmer months, OUT LOUD Hudson Valley will now move its offerings indoors to bring us drag productions for the colder months. One recent performance was Witch Perfect-The World Tour, a live-singing comedy parody based on cult-classic and audience favorite Disney film, Hocus Pocus, which will be performed both at Revel 32 in Poughkeepsie and in Albany at the Swyer Theater at the Egg. The show starred 3 stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Tina Burner, Scarlet Envy, and Alexis Michelle and featured pop hits from Madonna, Britney Spears, Cher, Disney classics from the Little Mermaid and the Lion King as well as Broadway standards. The production had such a strong reception that an additional show had to be added in Albany, surpassing the promoters’ expectations. The Hudson Valley region has so many offerings for all audiences that it is a competitive space for promoters. Luckily, OUT LOUD Hudson Valley’s audience isn't just limited to the LGBTQ public. Because of the notoriety performers have gained performing on TV, drag shows are interesting to a wider audience now, reaching the gay and straight public, and leading everyone attending to have a good time. In thinking about what might be missing from the LGBTQ scene in the Hudson Valley, Jimmy says that he'd like to see more gay bars and free LGBTQ spaces where community could get together on a regular basis. While OUT LOUD Hudson Valley provides free offerings when it can by throwing events with no cover charge to reach a broader audience, in order to put on larger productions, it must charge a fee to cover costs and pay performers. Jimmy wondered out loud whether the Hudson Valley could sustain a scene where LGBTQ spaces served the community during the week. With much of the community living here on a weekend-only basis, there may not be enough critical mass to keep the businesses operating. It is a common lament heard from many in the community. To the extent that the LGBTQ community has been embraced and accepted, it runs the risk of having the unique identities of its many components absorbed by and homogenized into the society at large. This is a whole new challenge for the LGBTQ community to contend with and may explain the explosion of shows that allow the queer community to express themselves through drag. QueerFest-Newburgh, a party celebrating local LGBTQIA+ residents and their allies will take place in Newburgh at Ms. Fairfax restaurant, 105 Liberty Street, Newburgh, NY 12550 on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, at 9pm. All friends and neighbors are invited to attend.
QueerFest-Newburgh will feature DJ John Martin, as well as Burlesque performers Mo'Honey and Professor M, who will both put on acts and offer go-go dances with the audience. Appetizers from the Fairfax kitchen will be passed to the guests and an outside patio will be open with heaters and a DJ. There will also be a live raffle with prizes offered by Dia Art Foundation, Sabrina Kee Photography, Hendley & Co. Interior Design, Hudson River Expeditions, the Fisher Center at Bard College, Industrial Arts Brewing Company, City Winery Hudson Valley, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, Kent Language School, and Ms. Fairfax. The event is sponsored by Wireworks in Newburgh, Carter's Restaurant & Lounge in Beacon, Meyer’s Olde Dutch Food & Stuff in Beacon, and Sobo & Sobo of Middletown. Bustling Liberty Street in Newburgh is on the forefront of a long-awaited comeback for Newburgh. It is home to the wonderful historical attraction, Washington’s Headquarters, not far from the waterfront. It also houses many delectable restaurants including Ms. Fairfax, Toasted, The Wherehouse, Seoul Kitchen, and Crab A Bag. In the place of the old Macchiato and Liberty Street Bistro restaurants is Betty’s Snack Bar, a new bar-café-specialty market that opened in June 2023. Additionally sprouting up recently on the street are Liberty Street Wines & Liquors, Grow Newburgh – a plant shop, and Hendley & Co.- an interior design firm. On the ever-changing street, Ms. Fairfax has been a fixture since 2015, with its gay flag proudly hanging out front and friendly and welcoming staff. The gay flag was recently replaced by the Ukrainian flag in support of that nation's plight. Ms. Fairfax is a neighborhood spot and will be a wonderfully welcoming venue for event goers attending OUTNewburgh-Beacon’s opening event. OUTNewburgh-Beacon, the organizer and promoter of the event, is currently seeking to bring more events to the community while partnering with and involving more local businesses. The goal is to highlight those spaces where the community is welcome and can feel comfortable. While speaking to potential sponsors for QueerFest-Newburgh, an employee of a local brewery exclaimed, “finally; we needed this.” That feeling is what drove OUTNewburgh-Beacon’s founder, Niki Thompson, to stage the event here in Newburgh, NY this fall. While the Hudson Valley is home to many LGBTQIA+ friendly events, many of them take place farther to the north, east, and south, leading to the desire to create a safe and friendly queer space closer to home in Newburgh. Future events will seek out local venues happy to welcome the LTBGQIA+ community and its allies. Tickets for the event are available from Eventbrite. Please visit OUTNewburgh-Beacon’s website for more information and see our page on Facebook. |
AuthorNiki Thompson lives in the Hudson Valley and celebrates our LGBTQ community |