About the Entertainment CAPITAL PRIDE

from Capital Pride Guide 2023

by Pride Center of the Capital Region

About the Entertainment

The ‘Twenty-nine-year’ old (shut up) Shawn Gillie is a mobile DJ specializing in weddings and a travel agent with his own agency called Gillie’s Getaways. He is also an On-Air personality for FLY 92.3 and hosts several nights a week at Waterworks Pub. Shawn says he’ll do anything to not have to go out and get a real job.” He loves traveling all over the world, vodka, and extremely short walks on the beach. You can find out more about Shawn on his website shawngillie.com

CARMIE HOPE & FRIEDA MUNCHON

Carmie Hope and Frieda Munchon have been on the PRIDE stage since 2004; Cohosting the festival for a number of years and kicking off the main stage celebration together ever since, in a long standing Pride tradition, start off with a song of happiness, hope and celebration.

Drag Revue

June 1–June 30

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

Albany Flag Raising Ceremony

10am | Albany City Hall, 24 Eagle St., Albany | Free

An Official Pride Center and In Our Own Voices Event! Join the Pride Center, In Our Own Voices, and Mayor Kathy Sheehan for a special ceremonial raising of rainbow flags to acknowledge and kick off PRIDE.

Saratoga Springs Flag Raising

Noon | Saratoga Springs City Hall 474 Broadway | Free

An Official Pride Center and In Our Own Voices Event!

Join us at Saratoga Springs City Hall to raise the pride flag, take a photo, and kick off Pride Month!

Community Sober BBQ

4–8pm | Thomas E. Isabella Pavilion 1791 Central Pkwy, Schenectady, NY | Free

Are you ready to CELEBRATE with Community? Join us for an afternoon of field day style games, slammin’ tunes and great food fresh from the grill! Come enjoy the start of the Pride season in a safe, substance-free, fun, event. No Alcohol, Drugs, or Illegal Substances permitted!

PRIDE Kick-Off Block Party

4–8pm | City Parking Lot #2, 76 Central Ave., Albany Free ($5 Suggested Donation)

An Official Pride Center and In Our Own Voices Event! This annual tradition that continues to get bigger and better each year! Come together with The Pride Center and In Our Own Voices as we officially kick off PRIDE with our new revamped Kickoff BLOCK PARTY in the parking lot next to Waterworks Pub and ROCKS. Enjoy a fun evening with food, music, libations, and chances to win fun prizes. Get tickets to upcoming events and learn more about the festivals. Meet up with friends, new and old, as the community kicks off the 2023 PRIDE season, Block Party Style!

FRIDAY, JUNE 2

Alternative Prom!

7–11pm | YMCA, 433 State St., Schenectady | $10 Cover at the Door (Ages 13-19)

An Official Pride Center Event! Join us for our 22nd annual Alternative Prom, a fun-filled evening for

LGBTQ+ youth and their allies ages 19 and under. Come as you are, no judgments, to this amazing event! We hope you can come out to be a part of the action! Learn more about Center Youth at www.capitalpridecenter.org.

HER Party at Oh Bar

9pm | Oh Bar, 302 Lark Street, Albany |Free PRIDE Week and LGBTQ+ women go hand in hand! Join us for a fabulous night at Oh Bar! Great music Pool, Darts and fun for all. You will be sure to have an amazing time!

SATURDAY, JUNE 3

Schenectady Pride 2023

1:00pm–4pm | 12 State St., Schenectady NY | Free Schenectady Pride to host our 11th annual festival. Saturday, June 3 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at Gateway Plaza at the Rainbow Pride Arches, next to SUNY Schenectady. Live entertainment, DJs, Drag show and more. Excited to bring back food, drink and merch vendors along with local non-profits and other friends.

Queer Game Night

5pm - 9pm | Cafe Euphoria 225 River St., Troy | Free BYO Board Games! Or use one of ours. If you want to hang out for several hours playing games with friends and new folks you meet here, please join us!

Blair Black’s ROCKS Prom

10pm–close | ROCKS, 77 Central Ave, Albany | $10 Join the ROCKS family for Prom Night, a night of drag performances, music by DJ London Jae Precise, Prom Photobooth and Mx Queen & King crown. Hosted by Blair Black. (21+ to enter).

RuPaul’s Amethyst! LIVE @ Waterworks Pub

11pm - 4am | Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave. Albany | $10

An Official Pride Center Event! Waterworks Pub monthly Illusions Party presents RuPaul’s Drag Race Star Amethyst. Your favorite gem invaded televisions around the world on Season 15 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Fan favorite, Amethyst shines her light and raw talent on Waterworks Pub, along with some of the area’s best drag queens, in a benefit for the Capital Pride Center (18+ to enter, 21+ to drink).

SUNDAY, JUNE 5

Bard & Baker Pride Drag Brunch

11am - 2pm | Bard & Baker 501 Broadway, Troy | $20

Opal Essence and Bard & Baker are proud to present: Sunday Funday Pride Drag Brunch! This event will not be one to miss. There will be laughs, tears, smiles and lots of fun. Ticket just includes entry to the restaurant and the food and drinks will be an additional charge.

MONDAY, JUNE 6

PRIDE Karaoke at Waterworks Pub

10pm | Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave., Albany | Free

Join us for PRIDE Karaoke. Don’t miss an evening of good times and great voices. This Capital PRIDE classic returns with Karaoke Wars; have fun donating cash to change a song, change a singer, or just give to a good cause! Proceeds benefit The Pride Center of the Capital Region.

TUESDAY, JUNE 7

Troy Flag Raising

10am | Troy Waterfront, Troy, NY | Free

An Official Pride Center and In Our Own Voices Event! Join your local LGBTQ+ leaders alongside leadership from the Pride Center of the Capital Region and In Our Own Voices and Mayor Patrick Madden raise the Pride Flag to kick off Pride Month

ROCKS Pride Bingo Night

8–11pm | ROCKS, 77 Central Ave., Albany | Free

Pride Bingo at ROCKS, hosted by Frieda Munchon. Free to Play, one card per person. Donations accepted for the Pride Center of the Capital Region. (21+ to enter.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8

Capital Pride Drag Wednesday at Waterworks Pub and ROCKS

10pm–12am | ROCKS, 77 Central Ave. 12am–4am | Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave., Albany | No Cover

Join the Pride Center for a fun PRIDE celebration of Drag at both ROCKS and Waterworks Pub. Performances from some of the area’s top drag queens. Rocks (21+ to enter) Waterworks Pub (18+ to enter, 21+ to drink.)

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

PRIDE Alive at Five

5–8pm | Jennings Landing, 1 Quay St., Albany

The City of Albany presents the Kick-off of the 2022 Alive at Five signature concert series and recogizes Capital Pride at the annual Pride Alive at Five!

Vibes! Pride Ball @ Waterworks Pub

11pm | Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave. Albany | Free

Vibe Pride Ball at Waterworks Pub, featuring DJ Shawn Gillie with a variety of Vibes including R&B, top 40, latin and remixes all night long. Contests and performances from Albany’s best drag performers. (18+ to enter, 21+ to drink.)

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

Euphoria Furmeet

6pm - 9pm | Cafe Euphoria 225 River St., Troy | $10 Check out the Capital Region’s furry fandom. We’re snakes, wolves, bunnies, rats, cheetahs, and so much more. Furries are very LGBTQ so come have dinner with us!

SATURDAY, JUNE 11

Say It Loud! BI POC Pride 2023

Noon–5pm | Washington Park, Albany NY | Free

An In Our Own Voices Event! Formerly Black & Latino Gay Pride, BI POC Pride is our way of recognizing the contributions, resilience, and struggles of LGBTQIA + Black, Indigenous, & People of Color in the Capital Region through music, food and entertainment. Featuring a DJ set from Nina Sky, performances from local and other national entertainers, a health & wellness expo, kids’ corner, and more.

Gekk & Gaymer Sci-Fi Pride

9pm – Close | ROCKS, 77 Central Ave., Albany | $10 ROCKS presents a Geek & Gaymer special event featuring Hardlee Him, DJ Ujderdog, Daniella Read and more. Saturday Junne 10, 9pm - Close (21+ to enter.)

Rupaul’s Widow Von’Du Live! @ BIPOC Pride — The Official After Party

10pm - 4am | Waterworks Pub, 76 Central Ave., Albany $10

A Waterworks Pub and In Our Own Voices Event! Widow Von’Du from Rupaul’s Drag Race S12 & Untucked S12 will be live at Waterworks Pub for the Official BIPOC Pride After-Party. Enjoy a night of music and dancing at Waterworks Pub with Widow, DJ Hasan and Albany’s best talent opening the show. (18+ to enter, 21+ to drink.)

SUNDAY JUNE 12

2023 Capital PRIDE Parade

11:45am | State St. to Lark St. to Madison Ave. to Washington Park, Albany | Free

An Official Pride Center Event! The Capital PRIDE Parade steps off at 11:45am in Washington Park, led by the Community March, and is full of music, inspiration, and of course, a sense of celebration and unity! The Parade and March will feature Capital Region community members, elected officials supporting the LGBTQ+ community, businesses, organizations, allies, and of course amazing floats, music and dancing. Bring friends and set up on the Parade route to cheer on this amazing event! The parade route is along State St. to Lark St. to Madison Ave. to Washington Park, Albany NY.

2023 Capital PRIDE Festival

1–5pm | Washington Park, Albany | Free

An Official Pride Center Event! Don’t miss the largest PRIDE celebration in Upstate New York! The Capital Pride Festival headlined by the Nina Sky and Martha Wash. With performances by Hark, the Erin Harkes Band, Albany’s Annual Drag Revue and will be hosted and emceed by Comedian and Fly 92.3 DJ Shawn Gillie. With an amazing attendance, high energy, top notch entertainment, a family carnival zone, hundreds of vendors, —including some of the area’s best food trucks, crafters, shops and merchants, as well as community groups the 2023 Capital PRIDE Festival is one of the region’s biggest and most highly anticipated events!

Capital PRIDE After Parties

5pm–? | Pride Center (332 Hudson Ave.), Waterworks Pub (76 Central Ave.), Oh Bar (304 Lark St.), ROCKS (77 Central Ave.)

Keep the celebration going at the official Capital PRIDE after parties! Unwind or heat up at on both floors at Waterworks Pub (18+ to enter, 21+ to drink), at Oh Bar (21+ to enter), ROCKS (21+ to enter), or join a very special sober party for the entire community at the Pride Center (all ages).

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

Euphoric Munch

5:00pm - 9pm | Cafe Euphoria 225 River St., Troy | Free

Join us for the Pride installment of Euphoric Munch, a vanilla meetup with a focus on community building for queer kinksters in the Capital Region and beyond. This event takes place monthly at Cafe Euphoria.

SUNDAY JUNE 18

PRIDE 5K Rainbow Run

9am–1pm | Jennings Landing, 1 Quay St., Albany | $40

An Official Pride Center and In Our Own Voices Event! Registration begins at 9:00am at Jennings Landing, Rainbow Fun Run (0.62 miles; open to walkers and runners of all ages and abilities) at 10:00am, and 5K (3.1 miles) at 11:00am. Awards and prizes immediately following the 5K! Prizes will then be awarded to the top three participants in the female, male, and open gender categories, as well as the top three participants in the each age bracket. Also, wear your Rainbow Best! Awards for Individuals and Teams “Best Use of Rainbow.”

Euphoria Drag Brunch by House of Extreme

1pm - 3pm | Cafe Euphoria 225 River St., Troy | $13 Haus of Extreme presents the Euphoria Drag Brunch. Tickets ($13) available for advance purchase via Eventbrite and at the door. Food & beverages available to purchase, centered on our vegan/vegetarian options.

FRIDAY JUNE 23

Troy Pride Night Out & Block Party

5pm - ? | Downtown Troy, NY | Free Brighten Troy with your pride colors and flags. Support the many local LGBTQ businesses in Downtown Troy and celebrate your Pride at the first Pride Night Out Block Party. Every Troy Night Out, the streets of downtown come alive with music and culture beckoning you to discover local businesses, art galleries, fine restaurants, and unique boutiques of all varieties.

SATURDAY JUNE 24

Pride Day at the Troy Farmers Market

9am - 2pm | Monument Square, Troy | Free Wear and show off your Pride Colors, stop by the Pride Center table and receive a prize and an opportunity for our raffle. Support local and LGBTQ-owned businesses. The Market has evolved into a shopping and community destination in the Capital Region and beyond, with close to 100 local, producer-only Vendors, and a year-round marketplace.

Drag Cabaret & Story Hour for Kids

12pm - 3pm | The Huxley Theater, New York State Museum, 260 Madison Ave, Albany, NY | Free Come to the museum for an afternoon of song and stories for kids of all ages sung and told in drag. Drag queens and kings are the epitome of dress-up, and that’s something all children understand. Drag isn’t dangerous, it is a creative and colorful way to express yourself. Join some of our favorite drag performers, led by hosts Frieda and Carmie, at the New York Musem for a fun-filled, fabulous, family show.

SUNDAY JUNE 25

Saratoga Pride Festival

2pm–5pm | High Rock Pavilion, Saratoga NY | Free

A Pride Center and Saratoga Pride event in High Rock Pavilion. Saratoga Pride has activities planned throughout the month of June, culminating in its annual Pride Festival, Sunday, June 25th, 2-5 pm at High Rock Park. Check out SaratogaPride.com, Facebook and Instagram for more details.

TUESDAY JUNE 27

*Capital Pride Business Alliance Mixer

5:30pm–8pm |Troy Beer Garden 2 King St, Troy, NY | $10 Suggested Donation

Diversify Your Business, Strengthen Your Brand. Enjoy great food, cocktails, and music from DJ Phoenix as you watch the sunset over Troy and the Hudson River. This event brings together nearly 100 LGBTQ+ business professionals for a fun and enjoyable evening and shared connections.

FRIDAY JUNE 30

Pride Yoga at the Plaza

9am - 10am | Stuyvesant Plaza 1475 Western Ave. Albany | Free

Pride Yoga at Stuyvesant Plaza. Get on your mat and get that yoga all up in your soul and finish Pride month right.

Euphoria Open Mic

5pm - 11pm | Cafe Euphoria 225 River St., Troy | Free

Euphoria Open Mic (5-11pm) with General dinner service open to everyone. Doors open 5pm; kitchen open 530830pm. Please see our main FB page for menu options for the evening. Music, poetry, and all other genres of performance welcome! Original content only

IOOV Renaissance Ball

6:30pm - 11pm | Albany Capital Center; 55 Eagle St

Albany NY | Free 18+

An In Our Own Voices Event! The Category is…. Renaissance! Join IOOV and members from the House Ball community as we pay homage to the Queen (Bey) with a night of vogue, self-expression, music, and more. Categories to include: Vogue, Realness, Best Dressed Spectator, etc. Pre-Ball food, network, and chill hour- 6:30pm-7:30pm. Event begins at 8:00pm