Each year, the City of West Hollywood celebrates the artistic contributions of the LGBTQ community with its vibrant One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival. The festival runs for 40 days, from Harvey Milk Day on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 through Saturday, June 30, 2018, which marks the end of Pride month. A complete list of this year’s One City One Pride festival events is available at www.weho.org/pride.
With the theme of “I Remember,” this year’s One City One Pride festival celebrates the LGBTQ community’s shared history and the people and events that paved the way for the rights we hold dear today.
The 2018 One City One Pride festival kicks off at 7 p.m. on Harvey Milk Day, Tuesday, May 22, 2018 with a free staged reading of Patricia Loughrey’s play Dear Harvey, produced by Celebration Theatre, the world’s oldest continuously running LGBTQ theatre. The reading will be followed by a kick-off reception for the festival. The event will be held at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. RSVP is required at https://onecityonepridedearharvey2018.eventbrite.com.
Additional highlights of the 40-day festival:
1) Lillian Faderman discusses and signs her new book, Harvey Milk, His Lives and Death onWednesday, May 30, 2018 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. Faderman is an American historian whose books on lesbian and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards. Books will be available for sale courtesy of Book Soup. The event is free, but RSVP is requested at https://onecityonepridelillianfaderman.eventbrite.com.
2) The One City One Pride Day of History on Saturday, June 2, 2018, is a full day of screenings and panels — including sneak peeks at new documentaries about the West Hollywood Aquatics Team and transgender AIDS activist Connie Norman, as well as an opportunity to meet and hear from some of the original rainbow flag makers. The event runs from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. For more information and to RSVP, go to https://pride.weho.org/one-city-one-pride-2018/2018/6/2/one-city-one-pride-day-of-history
3) On Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. composer Craig Hella Johnson and choir members from Conspirare will share the story behind creating the Grammy-nominated masterworkConsidering Matthew Shepard in an intimate evening of song and conversation at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. Like many people, Craig Hella Johnson was deeply affected by the death of a young gay Wyoming man in 1998, Matthew Shepard, whose death 20 years ago created a worldwide outpouring of grief and sense of injustice. Admission is free, but RSVP is requested at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/one-city-one-pride-our-journey-with-matthew-shepard-tickets-45605383931.
4) Heroic Lives, a musical based on LGBTQ seniors’ lives created through a workshop process, will be performed on Friday, June 22, 2018 and Saturday, June 23, 2018 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard.Heroic Lives is about the people who changed our world, told by the people who were there. Presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Senior Services Department through a grant from the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division, LGBTQ seniors participated in a series of workshops culminating in an evening of songs, stories, and original writing about the individuals who fought for LGBTQ liberation and whose lives were acts of heroism. Admission is free, but RSVP is requested by phone at
(323) 860-5830 or by email at seniors@lalgbtcenter.org.
5) The world’s first LGBTQ mariachi group will perform a free outdoor concert as part of the City’s Summer Sounds series on Sunday, June, 24, 2018 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. outdoors atPlummer Park, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard. Led by director Carlos Samaniego, Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles also features Natalia Melendez, the first transgender female performer in the history of mariachi. This unique ensemble was created as a haven for mariachi musicians who identify as LGBTQ to perform traditional Mexican regional music in the otherwise “machista” and somewhat discriminating subculture of the mariachi world. Admission is free, but seating is first-come, first-served. RSVP is requested at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-sounds-mariachi-arcoiris-de-los-angeles-tickets-43721273506.
6) The TransLife LA PoP Up Film Festival is a one-day event on Saturday, June 30, 2018from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the City’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard.
The event will highlight films created by and starring transgender and gender non-conforming filmmakers, artists, actors, and themes. The film festival will kick off with an opening reception, followed by filmmaking/acting workshops, and will conclude with screenings. Admission is free, but RSVP is required at www.popupfilmfestival.org.
The One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival is organized by the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division with the participation of the City’s Lesbian & Gay Advisory Board, Transgender Advisory Board, Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission, and community partners.
For additional details about the One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, including a full calendar of events with times and locations, please visit www.weho.org/pride.
A full brochure of events is viewable at www.weho.org/residents/weho-arts-and-culture/2018-one-city-one-pride-lgbtq-arts-festival.
High resolution photos are available via DropBox at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/034vg1sjem0l8ro/AAA2c33aZlq-7Owtm3HY9EyLa?dl=0.
Attached photo: One City One Pride 2018 poster, design by John Johnston, Courtesy City of West Hollywood.
For more information, please contact Mike Che, the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Coordinator, at (323) 848-6377 or at mche@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call (323) 848-6496. Follow the City of West Hollywood on social media @WeHoCity.
