IOWA CITY – Melding longtime Pride traditions with contemporary music offerings, Iowa City Pride kicks off five days of events tonight that peak with Saturday’s 55-year-old Pride Parade and Fest.
This college town offers four events tonight alone, and a Pride event every night this week. Saturday’s big fest offers not just drag, but also punk, acoustic and “future R&B.” Check out what’s coming up:
Above, clockwise from top left: Chillona, last year’s Pride parade banner holders, a Gaymers Gathering happening Sunday, the new Mental Health First Aid Station at Iowa City Pride Fest; and a glance at Pride Royalty performers Saturday.
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Tonight (Tuesday, June 17)
LGBTQ+ Meet n’ Greet: Gather with fellow LGBTQ+ community members for this two-hour gathering at Press Coffee, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Big Gay Bar Crawl: Seven Iowa City bars team up for an evening of Pride socializing, starting with dinner at Shakespeare’s Bar & Grill at 5 p.m. Hit all the spots, or join the group along the way.Â
Putt Putt For Pride: This newer tradition for IC Pride features LGBTQ+ tunes and trivia. Also, the first 50 golfers get in for free.
Pride at FilmScene: Trans Narratives:Â Catch a showing of “Castration Movie Anthology,” a four-hour experimental film featuring Louise Weard, transgender horror director. It’s part of FilmScene’s “Trans Narratives” series that is co-presented by Iowa City Pride.
Above, a shot of team members from last year’s Iowa City Pride Picnic.
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Wednesday
Picnic and Pool Party: Gather at S.T. Morrison Park for this long-time Iowa City Pride tradition, where food and games are provided, and it’s just $3 admission to the pool.
“Jubilee” as part of Trans Narratives: It’s another showing by Pride at FilmScene, of this 1978 horror flick classic.Â
 Thursday: Open Skate Night
Get some Pride swag while enjoying a couple of hours of free skating., from 6 to 8 p.m.
Friday, Sunday: Pride Game Days
You have two chances to experience one of Johnson County’s newest game efforts: Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge, owned and operated by former Iowa City Pride board member Nolan Petersen and Sean Finn, who was honored by The Advocate as a Champion of Pride in 2018.
The couple hosts a Pride Game Day at its Coralville Game Lounge from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday. It will also host a Gaymer’s gathering at Press Coffee 2-5 p.m. Sunday.
Above, clockwise from top left: Nikki Lunden Trotter, Sun Centauri, Lipstick Homicide, Early Girl, and Kl!ng.
Saturday Pride Fest features drag, acoustic, future R&B, folk, punk, more on two stages
All day Saturday, Iowa City Pride offers a “Mental Health First AID Station.” Professionals in counseling, food banks and more will be on hand to help out.
On Saturday, after the typically massive noon parade, you can tap into entertainment on two different stages. The main stage offers drag, burlesque, punk and headliners, while the Side Stage features acoustic, folk and spoken word.
Some traditional appearances that have become part of the Iowa City Pride fabric include:
• The Quire of Eastern Iowa, singing at 1 p.m.
• the Draglings youth drag performers taking the stage at 1:30 p.m.
• Pride Royalty (winners of Studio 13 drag pageants) performing at 3:45 p.m.
• the I.C. Kings, Iowa City’s path-paving drag king troupe, taking the stage at 7 p.m.
• Bawdy Bawdy Ha Ha, Iowa City’s burlesque troupe, performing at 7:30 p.m., and
• headlining “drag pop stars” perform at 8 p.m.
Live bands and performers taking one of the two stages Saturday include, in order:
• Kl!NG, a trio that describes itself “experimental garage rock basement candy w harmonies that tickle yer insides,” taking the Side Stage at 2 p.m.
• Lipstick Homicide, a punk band many may remember from Iowa City’s former The Mill music venue, performing on the main stage at 2:30 p.m.
• Early Girl, a “neon grunge, princess punk” band, taking the side stage at 3:15 p.m.
• Nikki Lunden Trotter, a longtime roots rocker who is also as member of The Trollies and Natural Habits, performing on the side stage at 4:30 p.m.
• One More Hour, which describes itself as “maximalist folk emo made by local queers,” performing at 5:30 p.m. on the side stage
• Pictoria Vark on the main stage, whose 2022 album was named among the year’s 100 best by Rolling Stone, performing on the main stage at 6 p.m.
• IC Speaks, a troupe of youth spoken word artists led by Calbe “The Negro Artist” Rainey, taking the side stage at 6:45 p.m.
• Sun Centauri, composed of eastern Iowa favorites Alyx Rush and Jim Swim, performing at The Englert Theatre at 9:45 p.m., and
• Chillona, a heralded Chicago performer known for melding musical styles and “giving new meaning to Latin Pop diva,” also performing at The Englert’s after=pride concert.
Next week, FilmScene’s “Trans Narratives” continues with North By Current, showing June 24. The Quire of Eastern Iowa provides two performance June 28-29 of “Considering Matthew Shepard,” (ab0ve) a tribute to the young man whose violent death in 1998 triggered a focus on hate cirmes.
The June 28 concert takes place at St. John’s United Methodist in Cedar Rapids, and the June 29 show happens at Voxman Music Halll, University of Iowa.
For more information about Iowa City Pride and related events, see the Iowa City Pride website, or its Facebook page.
