Arts & Entertainment
PhaseFest roars on this weekend
Indie queer music festival to feature MEN, People at Parties, Tayisha Busay, Glitter Lust et. al.
The queer band MEN, which evolved from a DJ/production/remix team, play PhaseFest again this weekend. The indie music fest kicked off Thursday and runs through the weekend. (Photo courtesy of PhaseFest)
The fifth annual PhaseFest Queer Arts and Music Festival continues this weekend at Phase 1 (525 8th St., S.E.) with a line-up of local and international performers, crafters and artisans featuring their work and more starting at 7:30 p.m. and going until almost 2 a.m.
“We’re expecting it to be super packed every night,” says Angela Lombardi, manager of PhaseFest and Phase 1, adding that they are expecting anywhere from 700 to 800 people over the three days. “We’re really encouraging people to come out early.”
According to the festival’s website, PhaseFest is dedicated to the development, exposure and interaction of queer and queer-allied musicians and artists.
Tonight, there will be performances by MEN, People at Parties, the electronic dance bands Tayisha Busay and Glitter Lust, the duos Rad Pony and Lost Bois, and G.U.T.S.
MEN, who headlined Saturday night at last year’s festival, started as a DJ/production/remix team of Le Tigre members JD Samson and Johanna Fateman. Now the group consists primarily of Samson, Michael O’Neill and Ginger Brooks Takahasi with Fateman and Emily Roysdon contributing.
“They rocked it out last year,” says Lombardi. “So people are … stoked about having them back.”
The drag troupe, D.C. Kings, will also perform a mini-show starting around 10:30 p.m.
The festival ends Saturday night with a performance by the queer, all-female band Sick of Sarah, as well as Hunter Valentine, Allison Weiss, Mitten, Melissa Li and the Barely Theirs, Clinical Trials and Michelle Raymond.
This is Sick of Sarah’s first time performing at PhaseFest.
“They’re a smoking hot group of rockers and they’re just going to blow everyone’s minds,” says Lombardi of the band.
For quite a few acts, this isn’t their first time at PhaseFest.
“We’ve got some Phasefest regulars coming back,” Lombardi says.
Admission is $20 each night for Friday and Saturday. A festival pass is also available for $45. All attendees must be 21 or older.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit phasefest.com.
Photos
PHOTOS: Fredericksburg Pride March and Festival
LGBTQ celebration held in historic Virginia town
The sixth annual Fredericksburg Pride March was held in downtown Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 27. Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Deuntay Diggs led the march alongside Fredericksburg City Council Member Jannan W. Holmes. The Fredericksburg Pride Festival took place at Riverfront Park after the march. Bree Fram was the featured speaker.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
The second annual Frederick Pride Parade was held in the streets of downtown Frederick, Md. on Friday, June 26.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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