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Philadelphia is getting a new arts festival this Pride season.
The Philly Pride Arts Festival, or Philly PrideAF (we see what they did there), is running throughout June with LGBTQ+ musicians, choirs, opera singers, drag artists and actors coming together to put on a lineup of queer programming.
Six arts organizations are joining forces to make PrideAF a reality. They include:
- Altissimo Arts
- Cross Keys Theatre Collective
- East Passyunk Opera Project (ePOP)
- Liberty City Arts (LCA)
- Prismatic Arts Ensemble
- Wear Yellow Proudly (WYP)
Alice Chung and Helen Zhibing Huang, co-founders of Wear Yellow Proudly, noted that the festival is “a reflection of what makes Philadelphia so special” in a joint statement.
“Philly is home to an incredible wealth of artists and small arts organizations that place deep value on community, and it felt like the right moment for all of us to come together,” they said. “In many ways, this collaboration feels like an ‘Arts UN’, a space where grassroots arts organizations unite to uplift one another and celebrate the richness of our city’s cultural landscape.”
According to organizers, the festival will be a “month-long, citywide celebration” of queer artists and stories. The idea is to partner with local artists, business and queer community members to put on a variety of performances and art events that celebrate Philly’s LGBTQ+ scene.
WYP and ePOP, for example, are collaborating on a “Memoirs of a Gaysian” show that will delve into the queer-Asian experience on June 12. The musical night will also highlight works from queer and Asian composers and librettists.
Another June 25 show, “Opera is a DRAG!” examines the relationship between two highly dramatic artforms — opera and drag. The next day, the festival is putting on a “Shakesqueer” event, a special drag cabaret celebrating the bard himself.
“The Philly Pride Arts Festival grew out of a desire to celebrate queer artistry while also caring for one another as a community,” said Katrina Thurman, General and Artistic Director of East Passyunk Opera Project, in a statement. “At ePOP, we’ve always believed that art is most powerful when it’s shared, accessible, and rooted in connection, and this festival brings that belief to life through collaboration with incredible Philly artists and organizations.”
Philadelphia Pride has evolved in recent years. Corporate sponsors — including banks and box stores — that grew ubiquitous during Pride in the 2010s, were not a given last year. And neither is a big celebration.
In 2021, Billy Penn reported that the annual Philadelphia Pride parade was thousands of dollars in debt to the city, ultimately leading to a cancellation that damaged small businesses. Last year, the federal government restructured NEA funding, making it more difficult to back LGBTQ+ celebrations.
“This is Pride as it’s meant to be—joyful and deeply rooted in community,” Philly PrideAF organizers said. “We’re not just presenting work; we’re building infrastructure for collaboration, visibility, and mutual support across Philadelphia’s queer arts scene.”
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