A scene from last year’s Pride on Broadway

After years of pandemic challenges, the are big plans for Pride celebrations on Capitol Hill this summer including acts on a Pike/Pine stage that will give Capitol Hill Block Party a run for its money. Meanwhile, the downtown Seattle Pride celebrations will move on without a major corporate sponsor.

In Pike/Pine, there will be a big show with events boasting star-studded lineups including Kim Petras and Iggy Azalea performing at Queer/Pride. Organizer Joey Burgess, who owns Queer/Bar and Cuff Complex, aimed to create impressive lineups for 2022, hosting a wider selection of performers than ever.

“We definitely programmed more heavily this year and tried to curate two festivals with amazing, inclusive national and local talent,” said Burgess.

In 2021, concerns over the continued spread of COVID-19 pushed Capitol Hill celebrations into September.

While Queer/Bar is ready to try something new in 2022, the Wildrose will return from its two-year Pride hiatus with a return to its popular Pride past with an expanded street party area with live performances.

“This year, we are concentrating on bringing local, diverse talent to our stage,” co-owner Shelley Brothers tells CHS.

Though Wildrose has faced harsh difficulties during the past years of the pandemic, a GoFundMe campaign raising nearly $90,000 for the bar has helped it survive these odds.

“We are still not at pre-pandemic levels, but we are definitely moving that way as people get more confident about going out,” said Brothers.

Seattle PrideFest will also return to Capitol Hill with a street festival on Broadway, according to executive director Egan Orion. The celebration will utilize Capitol Hill Station’s AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza for its Family Pride and Queer Youth Pride events this year.

In addition, the festival will offer two stages on Broadway, featuring local drag legends from the late-90s and early-2000s. PrideFest 2022 will celebrate the past, present, and future of the Capitol Hill LGBTQ+ community, according to Orion.

“We really wanted to make it as big and beautiful as possible to welcome people back,” Orion said.

in addition to emerging from the pandemic, not for profit efforts like Seattle Pride and PrideFest are experiencing a shift in how to make sure the financial support they receive is aligned with the cultures and communities they represent.

Though its annual June 26 parade is still centered downtown, Seattle Pride is planning its Pride in the Park event on June 4 at Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park. Executive director Krystal Marx is guiding the organization as it severs ties with corporate sponsor Amazon over the company donating nearly half a million dollars to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, in addition to other missteps, Marx tells CHS. Though this decision will deprive Seattle Pride of a hefty sponsorship, Marx is not worried about the budgetary loss affecting the annual Seattle Pride Parade. Instead, additional programming recently rolled out by Seattle Pride in other times of the year, as well as staff salaries, are more likely to take the hit, though this potential impact is still being evaluated.

Similar to Seattle Pride breaking with Amazon, Seattle PrideFest made a similar move with beer sponsor Bud Light. Like Amazon, the company holds a controversial track record with donations to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians. Unlike Amazon however, the company’s representatives have since followed up on the concerns raised by PrideFest and put some effort toward addressing them — though Orion is unsure how far along the company has progressed in this regard.

Seattle Pride has provided Amazon with a list of action items the company must follow to be reconsidered for partnership with the parade in the future, including the removal and refusal of anti-LGBTQ+ programs from the AmazonSmile program, and the refunding of their political donations to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians. So far, Amazon does not appear to be making any effort to meet these goals.

According to Marx, Seattle Pride has received an outpouring of supportful messages from Amazon employees, thanking the group for taking a stand against the company and demanding change. She reiterated that Amazon employees are welcome and encouraged to take part in the Pride parade, despite what the company may be telling its workers.

“It sounds like Amazon is sharing with its employees that they are not welcome at Pride, which cannot be farther from the truth,” Marx said.

For the neighborhood’s restaurants and bars organizing Pride 2022 events, the business implications for the neighborhood are huge. But the bets on a return to normalcy for some like Wildrose and a massive gamble on a larger scale celebration like Queer/Bar are more than a chance to sell tickets, alcohol, and good times. Pride on Capitol Hill is a celebration of the cultures and communities that have built these bars and hangouts and the people who support them year round.

“It feels incredible and extremely celebratory to be able to gather with our community and celebrate Pride in Seattle,” Burgess said.

This year’s Queer and Cuff Pride celebrations will be held from June 24-26. Tickets for both Queer/Pride and Cuff Pride are now available for purchase online. Wildrose will host its own Pride event from June 24-26. Tickets will be made available for advance purchase soon, according to Brothers. PrideFest will be open to all attendees free of charge, with the Broadway festivities set for June 25.

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