Pride. Art. Philly.
Say hello to the Philly Pride Arts Festival—a month‑long celebration of LGBTQIA+ artists, stories, and community happening across Philadelphia this June.
Festival Highlights
Four Weeks. Five Arts Organizations. Nine Events. One Festival.
Our upcoming events are all about connection, creativity, and collaboration. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the experience.
Why PrideAF
While officially titled the Philly Pride Arts Festival, PrideAF is its rallying cry—bold, joyful, and unmistakably artist-driven. The festival reimagines what a Pride celebration can be: decentralized, collaborative, and rooted in creative labor rather than corporate sponsorship.
By uniting independent organizations across disciplines and neighborhoods, PrideAF is not just a festival—it’s a blueprint for a more connected and sustainable arts ecosystem in Philadelphia.
“This is Pride as it’s meant to be—joyful and deeply rooted in community,” say festival organizers. “We’re not just presenting work; we’re building infrastructure for collaboration, visibility, and mutual support across Philadelphia’s queer arts scene.”
Event Details
East Passyunk Opera Project presents
Fear & Self-Loathing in Philadelphia
Saturday, June 6 at 7:00PM
Franky Bradley’s; 1320 Chancellor Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Starring Balena Canto, Ashley Marie Robillard, Lauren Cook, and DJ and beatmaker, Omar Saleem.
Kicking off the Philly Pride Arts Festival, "Fear & Self-Loathing in Philadelphia" is a Pride cabaret that examines how queer communities respond to fear, hatred, and erasure, not by shrinking, but by transmuting those forces into protest, radical joy, love, and perseverance. Too often, that hatred is born from unresolved self-loathing and fear of difference or is projected upon us. This cabaret traces how our community meets that violence, the forces that seek to silence queer people, and the responses that keep us alive. It explores the ways queer communities transform pain into connection, humor, and joy. The program moves through protest and anguish toward celebration and catharsis.
Philly Pride Arts Festival at the Philadelphia Pride Parade
Sunday, June 7 from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Philly PrideAF is hitting the streets! The Pride Arts Festival will be marching in the Philadelphia Pride Parade on June 7, bringing art, community, and a whole lot of queer joy to one of the city's biggest celebrations. They’ll have an information table set up along the route: stop by to meet the organizers, learn about upcoming programming, get connected to mutual aid orgs, and find out how to get involved with the festival! Come find and celebrate with the community that makes all of this possible.
Altissimo Arts presents Anniversary Concert
Friday, June 12 at 6:30PM
Trinity at 22nd; 2212 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA
In celebration of Pride Month and the anniversary of their founding, Altissimo Arts presents an evening of chamber music that uplifts diverse voices and welcomes all—because music is for everyone.
Wear Yellow Proudly & East Passyunk Opera Project present
Love Notes Special Edition: Memoirs of a Gaysian
Friday, June 12 at 8:00PM
Society Hill Dance Academy; 1919 E. Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
Starring Spencer Britten, Chuanyuan Liu, and Jeremy Chan
Wear Yellow Proudly (WYP) and East Passyunk Opera Project (ePOP) partner to bring a special event that nods to ePOP’s highly successful Love Notes series. Memoirs of a Gaysian explores the unique stories and perspectives of Queer-Asian experiences. Too often, queerness and Asian identity are compartmentalized—same-sex marriage remains inaccessible in many Asian countries, and traditional family values have long silenced LGBTQ+ voices within the community. Highlighting works by Queer and Asian composers and librettists, this program weaves together songs and arias from the classical repertoire alongside music by living composers. Through a candid portrayal of joy, sorrow, anger, and pride, we unite these two worlds, offering an authentic reflection of what it means to exist at their intersection.
East Passyunk Opera Project at Arts on Center Stage
Thursday, June 18 at 6:00 PM
Dilworth Park; 1 S 15th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Now in its fifth year at Arts on Center Stage, East Passyunk Opera Project (ePOP) returns to Dilworth Park for a vibrant evening of opera and musical theater celebrating Pride. Featuring vocalists Nia Drummond and Teddy Balfour with pianist Aurelien Eulert, this free outdoor concert continues ePOP’s annual tradition of bringing bold, joyful performance to the heart of Philadelphia.
This outdoor concert is free to the public.
Mobbluz presents PRIDE Outside Jam
Saturday, June 20 from 8:00 PM- 12:00 AM
BodyRock Boot Camp; 3858 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
An outdoor concert celebrating Pride, community, and live music. PRIDE Outside Jam Session hosted by Mobbluz. Bring your instrument, your verse, and your voice to this high energy and inclusive night of musical improvisation and creative networking. $10 suggested donation.
Mobbluz presents Musical Theatre Karaoke
Saturday, June 27 from 9:00 PM- 11:00 PM
BodyRock Boot Camp; 3858 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Musical Theater Karaoke hosted by Mobbluz. Come ready to break out your revered classic or just have some fun belting out YOUR number from your favorite musical!$10 suggested donation.
Liberty City Arts presents Opera is a DRAG!
Thursday, June 25 at 6:00 PM
Franky Bradley’s; 1320 Chancellor St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Opera is a DRAG! celebrates the long, fabulous relationship between opera and drag—two art forms built on transformation, drama, and larger-than-life storytelling. From soaring arias to show-stopping looks, this performance brings them together for one unforgettable night.
Prismatic Arts Ensemble presents Shakesqueer: A Pride Cabaret
Friday, June 26 at 8:00 PM
Black Squirrel Club; 1049 Sarah St, Philadelphia, PA 19125
The Bard + Opera + Drag = SHAKESQUEER! From the makers of Drag Messiah, Prismatic Arts Ensemble is serving up a pride month drag cabaret celebrating all things Shakespeare! Join co-founders Balena Canto and Violet Caballero as they lead you on a journey through The Bard's timeless stories via the iconic operas, songs, and musicals that he inspired.
Together we'll ask the questions, "Is something rotten in the city of Philadelphia?" "Why does the drag queen protest too much?" "What's in a drag name?" "In the course of douching, when will the water run clear?"
In addition to performances, enjoy theatre games (where you can win prizes), stunning raffles, and libations by the Black Squirrel. The curtain rises on Friday, June 26th, 8 pm at The Black Squirrel Club (Fishtown). While many of life's questions may not have answers, there is one thing we do know..."All the world's a stage, and the rest...honey, that's DRAG!"
Additional events, pop‑ups, readings, and community partnerships to be announced soon!
Who We Are
Philly Pride Arts Festival is a month‑long celebration of LGBTQIA+ artists, stories, and community, taking place throughout June in venues across Philadelphia. Presented by a coalition of local arts organizations— Cross Keys Theatre Collective, East Passyunk Opera Project, Liberty City Arts, Prismatic Arts Ensemble, and Wear Yellow Proudly—the festival features performances, concerts, cabaret, outdoor events, and community engagement activities that highlight the depth and diversity of Philly’s queer creative scene. In partnership with LGBTQIA+‑affirming artists, businesses, and mutual aid organizations, the festival centers artistic excellence, access, and collective care. Branded playfully as PrideAF, the Philly Pride Arts Festival invites audiences to celebrate Pride through live performance, visibility, and shared joy all month long.
Participating Organizations
Cross Keys Theatre Collective is an educational theatre company in its third season dedicated to empowering junior high and high school aged student artists across the Philadelphia region and tri-state area. Through their annual summer theatre intensive, CKTC provides young artists with an immersive rehearsal experience modeled after a professional theatre company. Students develop skills both on and off the stage through performance training, technical theatre, audition workshops, résumé building, and masterclasses with working theatre professionals.
East Passyunk Opera Project (ePOP) brings opera off the stage and into Philadelphia communities, creating up close, engaging experiences between artists and audiences. Since its first packed house concert in 2019, ePOP has performed in alternative venues, outdoor settings, and digital formats, collaborating with local vocalists, visual artists, and musicians who are well established and revered in their individual art forms but may not be recognized by their local communities and neighbors. ePOP’s mission is to expand community awareness and access to opera, musical theater, and art song by collaborating with exceptional performance and visual artists paired with unique venues to bring innovative, accessible, and free or low-cost performances to Philadelphia audiences.
Liberty City Arts brings opera to unexpected spaces across Philadelphia. Founded by artists, for artists, our mission is to empower Philadelphia-rooted talent through bold performances, training opportunities, and community-centered programming that returns opera to its origins as a progressive, accessible, and deeply communal art form. We believe opera should reflect the people and neighborhoods it serves. By centering local artists, presenting new and underrepresented voices, and removing financial and cultural barriers to participation, Liberty City Arts creates pathways for artists to sustain their careers while inviting new audiences into the operatic experience. Our work prioritizes equity, experimentation, and collaboration, ensuring that opera in Philadelphia remains vibrant, relevant, and responsive to the city’s diverse cultural landscape.
Established in 2020, Prismatic Arts Ensemble is a collaborative project between Philadelphia area performers whose deep love of immersive theatre and of classical song led them to wonder what would happen if those two art forms could be combined, with the goal of bringing new life to rare and underperformed pieces and to give audiences a different way to experience classical music. Prismatic also aims to change the paradigm in the way that they select repertoire, cast additional musicians, and hire artistic affiliates. They are committed to featuring the work of underrepresented artists- Black, Indigenous, and other Artists of Color; womxn; artists in the LGBTQIA+ community- as well as to cultivating a creative environment where artists and audience members alike can be fully present as their authentic selves. We look forward to bringing diverse, thought-provoking, and imaginative programming to our community.
Wear Yellow Proudly is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was created in 2020 as a response to the increasing amount of xenophobia towards Asians across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization’s mission is to amplify Asian American voices by telling the stories of Asian American communities using the power of music. Since its founding, Wear Yellow Proudly has supported and showcased over 90 Asian and Asian American artists, collaborating with multiple partner organizations and presenting performances, conversations, and educational programming both online and in person. In addition to its concert programming, WYP produces the podcast Through Our Lens, which explores Asian American experiences through interviews and storytelling. WYP’s work has included virtual concerts such as the nationally shared #StopAsianHate Benefit Concert, as well as live programs including Songs to the Moon, Girls of Yellow Diamonds, and Memoirs of a Gaysian. Through concerts, conversations, and media, Wear Yellow Proudly continues to create space for Asian American narratives within the classical music world and beyond.