Vendors line the streets of the Arts District for the Pride Block Party

One of the most creative Pride celebrations anywhere takes place tonight

DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com

ith a mixture of all the creative arts presented in one evening’s event, The Pride Block Party in the Arts District is one of the most creative Pride events staged anywhere. To mount the festival, the Dallas Arts District partners with the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Crow Museum of Asian Art to stage the Pride Block Party tonight, June 16, from 6 p.m. until midnight.

If you missed the photo exhibition at the Dallas Pride Festival celebrating 50 years of Pride in Dallas — coordinated by the Pride Museum of Texas, The Dallas Way and Dallas Voice — it’ll be installed in the lobby of the Crow Museum.

The Dallas Arts District Community Stage has a lineup of programming that begins at 6:30 p.m. with Jess Garland followed by Uptown Players at 7:15 p.m.

At 8:15 p.m., Abounding Prosperity and Dallas Southern Pride present Shemar Garcon Dupree and Stasha Sanchez. Dezi 5 follows at 9 p.m. and Bandan Koro at 9:45 p.m.

A fabulous fashion finale begins at 10:30 p.m.

The DMA features a cooking demo, sketching class, performances, poets, dancers and gallery tours highlighting LGBTQ artists. You can square dance with the Pegasus Squares in the Founders Room from 8-10 p.m. Flexible Grey Theatre Company presents excerpts from the next installment in its annual Bridges series, and comedians from Dallas Comedy Clubs’ Queer Factor go on stage in the Hamon Atrium at 8:30 p.m.

United Black Ellument presents Kiki Ball from 9:30-11 p.m., and local filmmaker Amanda Reyes screens two of her short films in the Horchow Auditorium at 10:30 p.m.

If you prefer touring the museum on your own, pick up the LGBTQ self-guide at the guest services desk to learn about and view five LGBTQ artists in the DMA’s collection.

The Nasher offers tours and entertainment throughout the evening. DJ Zach Witness spins from 6-7 p.m. and performs with his band at 7 p.m. A Pride After Dark Dance Party with Bleach begins at 7:30 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m., followed by DJ Natural Hiigh. A screening of the film The Greatest Showman begins at 10 p.m. out in the garden.

The DFW Federal Club kicks off the block party at 6 p.m. with its June social at the nearby Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum including a final viewing of Rise Up, the exhibit that highlights events that led up to and resulted from the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion.
Admission is free but tickets, available at Eventbrite, are necessary.

The Pride Block Party takes place at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center and along Flora Street between the museums from 6 p.m.-midnight.