Arts & Entertainment
Out & About: June 22
Harpers Ferry Pride returns, Streisand impersonator comes to Baltimore, Food & Friends’ Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction on tap, and more
Harpers Ferry holds second Gay Pride Day
River Riders (408 Alstadts Hill Rd., Harpers Ferry) is hosting its second annual Gay Pride Day on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Activities include family-friendly adventures such as kayaking, canoeing, biking and tubing. The day concludes with a drag show.
River Riders is a service that provides equipment to those who want to go rafting, tubing, kayaking and similar adventures.
Space is being offered to venders who will be promoting awareness and information for free. Venders will be responsible for their own tents, tables, chairs and other equipment.
Carla DelVillaggio will bring her Barbra Streisand impersonation to the Gordon Center for Performing Arts, Sunday.
Streisand impersonator comes to Baltimore
Barbra Streisand impersonator Carla DelVillaggio will perform at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts (3506 Gynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills) on Sunday at 3 p.m.
DelVillaggio has been performing for 25 years and began her Streisand impersonation project in 2006. She has received several awards including “Best Overall Celebrity Re-Creation Award” at the Sunburst Convention of Celebrity Tribute Artists for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Tickets range from $40-45. For more information, visit simplystreisand.net.
Chef’s Best slated for Tuesday
Food & Friends is celebrating its 22nd annual Chef’s Best Dinner and Auction Presented by the NACDS Foundation on Tuesday at the Washington Hilton (1919 Connecticut Ave., N.W.). VIP reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the main event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Food & Friends is a service that provides meals and nutrition to members of the community with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.
Fifty-five of the best chefs in the region are invited to make delicious cuisine for 1,200 guests while enjoying a silent auction. Through the generosity of attendees, Food & Friends hopes to serve 2,800 individuals more than 1.2 million meals. The event will also be honoring CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield for their dedication to the group.
For more information about the event, visit foodandfriends.org/chefsbest.
The D.C. Center needs volunteers. Learn more about its needs at a fair at Town Saturday night. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Volunteer Fair recruits to benefit the LGBT community
The D.C. Center is co-sponsoring the District’s second annual LGBT Volunteer Fair at Town Danceboutique (2009 8th St., N.W.) on Saturday from 7-10 p.m.
The volunteer fair is a way for prospective volunteers to learn about opportunities to volunteer in the LGBT community. The event will also have LGBT organizations recruiting for volunteers.
Center staff will be present to answer questions about volunteering there.
For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
The Washington Blade will update this article with additional reaction when it becomes available.
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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