Upcoming Gay and Lesbian Events
Parties, talent competitions, film festivals, sports and more!
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Check out the upcoming GLBT events happening in Philadelphia, highlighted by large annual celebrations, weekly events at bars and nightclubs and concerts and shows at venues throughout the region.
Annual Events | Weekly Events | Exhibitions, Concerts and Performing Arts
Annual Events
Summer
PrideDay LGBT Parade and Festival
June 9, 2013
The 24th annual PrideDay LGBT Parade and Festival takes place during International Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and features live music, DJs, food, drinks and a festive parade that runs from the Gayborhood to Penn’s Landing.
Mr. Gay Philadelphia
June 9, 2013
Find out who will nab the top prize during Mr. Gay Philadelphia, an all-male pageant in which celebrity judges size up the competition based on a variety of criteria.
Wawa Welcome America!
Start date to be announced – July 4, 2013
Celebrating the nation’s birthday, Wawa Welcome America! is a multi-day party with free events for all ages throughout the city — including concerts, a parade and fireworks.
QFest
July 11-22, 2013
QFest welcomes independent LGBT filmmakers to town to screen dozens of movie premieres and attend other celebrity-studded events.
Pink Pub Crawl
March 23 and July 13
The Pink Pub Crawl guides participants to some of the Gayborhood’s favorite watering holes. Those wearing pink can join the sipping for $25 ($30 for non-pink wearers), with free admission to Voyeur Nightclub included.
Phillies Gay Day
August 7, 2013 | Citizens Bank Park
The Philadelphia Phillies welcome thousands of gay and lesbian fans to Citizens Bank Park each August for Gay Day.
Fall
Gender Reel
September 19-21, 2013
Gender Reel takes a look at transgender life during a special art and film festival featuring live music and special events.
National Coming Out Day with OutFest
October 13, 2013
Philadelphia celebrates National Coming Out Day with OutFest, a block party in the heart of the Gayborhood that’s made up of drag shows, games, bar crawls and shopping. Philadelphia’s celebration is the largest Coming Out Day street festival in the world.
Terror Behind the Walls
September-November 2013 | Eastern State Penitentiary
Thrill-seekers celebrate the Halloween season at Eastern State Penitentiary by visiting Terror Behind the Walls, a spooky haunted house inside an abandoned prison.
Henri David Halloween Ball
October 31, 2013 | Sheraton City Center Hotel
Philadelphia’s ultimate costume party, the annual Henri David Halloween Ball attracts hundreds of revelers dressed in campy, glam and over-the-top getups each year.
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show
November 7-10, 2013 | PA Convention Center
Handmade textiles, jewelry and housewares of the highest quality are on view and for sale at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Winter
Mummers Parade
January 1, 2014
Thousands of decorative strutters kick off the New Year by marching up Broad Street in the festive day-long Mummers Parade that ends with the Fancy Brigade Finale at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Spring
The Philadelphia Flower Show
March 2014 | PA Convention Center
The Pennsylvania Convention Center is the site of the Philadelphia Flower Show, the oldest and largest indoor show of its kind. The annual gardening celebration features top-of-the-line horticulture and landscape design, entertainment and more than 150 vendors. This year’s theme, “Brilliant!,” draws inspiration from the contemporary culture, design, gardens and landscapes of Great Britain.
The Philadelphia Antiques Show
April 2014 | PA Convention Center
Dealers from across the U.S. offer the finest examples of period furniture, folk and fine art, ceramics, porcelain, silver, jewelry and textiles at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during The Philadelphia Antiques Show.
Dining Out for Life
April 2014
Nosh for a great cause during Dining Out for Life, an annual event in which participating restaurants around the city donate a percentage of each breakfast, lunch and dinner bill to ActionAIDS.
Philadelphia Black Gay Pride
April 2014
Philadelphia Black Gay Pride kicks off a week of celebrations to celebrate its 14th anniversary with entertainment and educational events throughout the city, including a pageant, panel discussions and free HIV testing.
Equality Forum
May 2014
Equality Forum gets to the heart of LGBT culture with educational panels, parties and special events. Festivities include the International Equality Dinner and Sunday OUT!, a lively festival at the open-air Piazza at Schmidts in Northern Liberties.
New Hope Celebrates Pride
May 2014
New Hope’s 10th annual New Hope Celebrates Pride includes the Pride Parade, athletic events, family activities, performances, dance parties and more. Proceeds benefit national and local charities.
Weekly and Monthly Events
Weekly
Showtune Sundays at Tavern on Camac
Every Sunday
It’s all about Broadway during Showtune Sundays at Tavern on Camac, where favorite video clips are mixed from stage and movie musicals.
Sinful Sundays at Tabu
Every Sunday
Every week at Tabu, The Goddess Isis invites special guests for Sinful Sundays, an evening of female illusion and gender-bending hilarity that gets started at 9:00 p.m.
Sing Your Life Karaoke at Bob & Barbara’s and Tabu
Every Sunday at Bob & Barbara’s and Every Thursday at Tabu
Belt it out at Sing Your Life Karaoke (with special theme nights) at Bob & Barbara’s every Sunday and at Tabu on Thursdays, both starting at 9:00 p.m.
Temptress Tuesdays at ICandy
Every Tuesday
It’s all about the ladies on Temptress Tuesdays at ICandy, with a slew of drink specials from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
The Dollhouse Revue at Voyeur
Every Wednesday
Drag superstar Mimi Imfurst of RuPaul’s Drag Race headlines The Dollhouse Revue with her cast of Dollstars every Wednesday starting at 11:00 p.m. at Voyeur Nightclub.
Texas Hold’em at Stir
Every Wednesday
Play Texas Hold’em at Stir each Wednesday starting at 8:00 p.m. with drink special and prizes worth betting on.
Bob & Barbara’s Drag Show
Every Thursday
Bob & Barbara’s also hosts its legendary drag show every Thursday night with the famous Philadelphia Special, a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a shot of Jim Beam for just $3.
DJ Cowboy Cliff’s Country Dance Party at Woody’s
Every Friday
Boot scoot over to Woody’s for DJ Cowboy Cliff’s Country Dance Party, taking place at Woody’s, 7:00 p.m. every Friday.
Monthly
First Friday in Old City
Every first Friday of the month
Every First Friday of the month, art galleries throughout Old City open their doors to debut new exhibitions and treat visitors to light bites and refreshments.
Sex Dwarf at Fluid Nightclub
Every first Friday of the month
DJ Robert Drake gets the new wave party started every first Friday at Fluid Nightclub during Sex Dwarf. Each month features different themes and a playlist of underground music from the 70s and 80s.
Stimulus
Every third Friday at rotating venues
Billed as one of the biggest queer parties on the East Coast, Stimulus packs in the beautiful people every third Friday at rotating venues and features some of the best lesbian DJs in the city.
Our Night Out
Monthly
Our Night Out, a gathering of LGBT professionals, gives people the chance to network with colleagues and friends at hotspots all over the city each month.
Gay Bingo
Monthly at the Gershman Y
Gamers grab their daubers and head straight to Gay Bingo, a monthly fundraiser hosted by hilarious drag queens known as the BVDs (Bingo Verifying Divas) at The Gershman Y. All proceeds benefit the AIDS Fund.
Superstar at Devotion
Monthly
In the space formerly occupied by Shampoo, the new Devotion nightclub hosts Superstar, a once-monthly LGBT party featuring celebrity appearances, globe-trotting DJs and live musical performances.
Exhibitions, Concerts and Performing Arts
Shut Up & Dance
March 23, 2013 | Forrest Theatre
Every year, the dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet produce Shut Up & Dance, a one-night-only benefit performance for local non-profit MANNA at the Forrest Theatre.
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
February 26 – March 3, 2013 | Academy of Music
Watch drag queens on a musical mission in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert at the Academy of Music.
Pink
March 17, 2013 | Wells Fargo Center
Rock star and Philly-area native Pink plays the Wells Fargo Center during her Truth About Love Tour. March 17.
Big Broadway Sing
March 21-23, 2013 | Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion
The Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus sings favorite songs from the Great White Way during the Big Broadway Sing.
The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts
March 28 – April 27, 2013
The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) kicks off with a month of cultural events produced by more than 150 arts partners and ending with a street fair on Broad Street.
Shakespeare’s R&J
May 3-4, 2013 | University of the Arts, Caplan Center for the Performing Arts at Terra Hall
Mauckingbird Theatre Company, Philly’s only LGBT theater company, presents Shakespeare’s R&J, a gay love story set at an all-boy’s boarding school.
Booty Candy
May 15 – June 26, 2013 | Wilma Theater
It’s all about Booty Candy at the Wilma Theater, staging this play about a shocking sermon about lesbians, romance and sex that’s written and directed by Robert O’Hara.
ExtrABBAganza
May 17-18, 2013 | Prince Music Theater
Take a chance on ExtrABBAganza, a concert by the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus celebrating the songs of ABBA.
Venus in Fur
May 24 – June 23, 2013 | Suzanne Roberts Theatre
Philadelphia Theatre Company presents Venus in Fur, a darkly seductive tale based on the classic erotic novel of the same name.
Wicked
June 26 – August 4, 2013 | Academy of Music
Go behind the story of Oz during Wicked at the Academy of Music and find out what it means to be “popular.”
The Importance of Being Earnest August 14 – September 1, 2013 | Off Broad Street Theatre
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest does some serious gender bending in a new production by Mauckingbird Theatre Company.
Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe
September 6-21, 2013
For two weeks of artistic pleasure, avant-garde performance meets street theater throughout the city during the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.
Dragapalooza
Dates to be announced | Voyeur Nightclub
Hosted by Brittany Lynn, Dragapalooza is one of the biggest drag shows in the city each year. The hit show gives famous and emerging queens a stage to perform their favorite acts at Voyeur Nightclub.
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