Seattlest's Big Pride Guide '08
Seattle Pridefest '07 photo courtesy of Flickr contributor Andrew G. Davis
It's finally here: that weekend when we all get to crawl out of our closets (or just emerge from our nesty living rooms) and strut down the street in leathers and feathers. God must not hate the gays that much, because she's blessed us with a weekend forecast that only encourages leather thongs and tight tanks (81 today, 88 tomorrow, 89 Sunday). There are plenty of comprehensive lists and guides to Seattle Pride online, but we thought we'd pick out a handful of events we'd most recommend. So, without further ado, we bring you Seattlest's big-ass guide to Pride:
First of all, a couple of logistics. Just a reminder, the only events on Capitol Hill are at the clubs. There are no Pride shuttles, as there have been for certain events in past years. However, the number eight bus (down Denny, from Capitol Hill to Seattle Center) will be running more frequently all weekend.
BOY-GIRL EVENTS: Saturday night is the Pride Cruise. Board up at 5 p.m., and dish out $55 for a nice dinner cruise that includes bars, dancing, and a drag show. Hit up the pre-cruise party at Purr from 2-4 p.m. Taxis will take you from Purr to the boat. Sunday is the three-hour Pride Parade downtown, starting at 11 a.m. (Parade route at that link). Gear up for it with Pride brunch at Sazerac, about which we heard good things last year, and Country Pride at Seattle Center afterwards at 3 p.m.
FRIDAY FOR GIRLS: The party's at the Wildrose tonight, and the cover is only $10. Sirbrina and V from A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila will judge a wet t-shirt contest, and then the DJs kick in. Everyone's having BBQs to kick off the weekend, but if you'd rather watch a tipoff, the Storm has their Tipoff to Pride event for $26, with a pregame prefunk starting at 5 p.m.
FRIDAY FOR BOYS: The Second Annual Hot Dog Blessing will go down tonight (pun intended) at the Bottleneck Lounge. The Men's Chorus is doing a folk song show at McCaw Hall at 8 p.m. and, on the other end of the entertainment spectrum, Neighbours will have their Pride kick-off party starting at 9 p.m., with another kickoff at the Cuff at the same time.
SATURDAY FOR GIRLS: The Dyke March starts Saturday at 7 p.m., preceded by free hotdogs at the Bottleneck at 4 p.m., and a rally at 5 p.m. at SCCC featuring performers like Camille Bloom, Lamar Van Dyke, and others. After that, personally, Seattlest would prefer to party at Cherry than the Rose (Cherry's $5-7 cover is much more attractive than the Rose's $15, too). However, the Rose does have a slew of hot bands (Team Gina, etc.). We'd recommend starting your night at Chapel, and then heading to Re-Bar for Cherry just before 10 p.m. (to take advantage of the early bird $5 cover). Then maybe pop over for a late night at the Rose. However, if you don't mind shelling out the big bucks, DJ Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa) is spinning for Girl4Girl at the Premier for $15. And, finally, there's Hot Flash at Neighbours.
SATURDAY FOR BOYS: Being a girl, it's hard for us to make this call for you, but we think the pajama party at Purr sounds like a damn good time. That kicks off at 9 p.m., which gives you plenty of time to take in the sights before heading to Neumo's for Shameless, which goes til 4 a.m. If you can't stop partying, go ahead and hop over to the Baltic Room for Tribe—their after hours party. That'll wrap up around 7 a.m.—a good time to get a latte before heading to C.C. Attles, Martin's, or Sazerac for some pre-parade brunch.
SUNDAY FOR GIRLS: If you don't already have tickets to the Indigo Girls, there's plenty of other stuff going on. The Rose is holding a Butch Contest with prizes from Babeland, and showing off more great DJs and more beer garden madness.
SUNDAY FOR BOYS: Sunday is the R Place blowout, kicking off at 10 a.m. They'll have an outdoor beer garden, hot DJs, and surely plenty of hot ripped men. Purr ends its Pride weekend festivities with a FREE! "beach party" running 3 p.m.-midinight. Also unmissable is the Cuff's street party for $10, starting at noon for those who can't wait through the parade.
That's it. Now go have a great, hot, sunny Pride weekend! Don't forget your sunscreen.
