Pride Comes to Arlington This Weekend
Arlington Country Pride to host a drag pageant, fitness event, festival and drag brunch this weekend.
Arlington County is expanding how Pride will be celebrated in Northern Virginia with its second annual Arlington Pride this weekend.
Lindsey Hinton, a spokesperson for Arlington Pride, says this year is going to be bigger and better than last year’s celebration, all starting with its drag pageant.
“The festival is our baby and we appreciate that you never get tired of your firstborn,” Hinton told Metro Weekly. “But,\ our beauty girl is definitely the pageant. We’re really excited about that.”
The Inaugural Miss Arlington Pride Pageant will allow residents to watch local drag queens compete for the first-ever Miss Arlington Pride title.
Local drag legend Shi-Queeta Lee will host the pageant on Friday, June 23 at The Hyatt Regency in Crystal City.
Doors open at 7 and tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, with a portion of sales to be donated to YES! Achievement, a non-profit focusing on the wellness of children.
On Saturday the 24, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Laman Ben-Trahoret will host the first Arlington Pride Fitness in the Park at Gateway Park in Rosslyn. Those iIterested in the free event should pre-register on Eventbrite and bring a yoga mat.
Then, from noon to 7 p.m. The Polished Kreative will host the second Arlington Pride Festival at Gateway. The event is free and will feature entertainment, vendors, and more.
Hinton says she’s ready to get out and dance with DC Rawhide, who will teach western dancing in the park during the festival.
“Line dancing is just so much fun and it doesn’t matter if you have rhythm or not,” says Hinton. “It synchronizes you in energy. I’m excited to get out here line dance and really try to get the politicians to come out line dance.”
The drag queen Evita Peroxide will conduct a drag story time at the festival. Hinton explained that although much of Pride is geared toward adults, Arlington Pride wanted to ensure families could participate.
“Stories and children are never wrong, no matter who is giving them,” she says.
An additional focus for Arlington Pride will be recognizing the “Silver” LGBTQ citizens who may not have been able to live out their true lives in the past.
“They didn’t get the opportunity to live out freely that some of us might take for granted,” she says. “People that clear the pathways for you should always be respected because if you forget history, you’re doomed to repeat it.”
To wrap up the weekend’s festivities, an Arlington Pride Drag brunch will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse in National Landing.
The Departures Bar will be taken over by Evita Peroxide and other local drag queens as they perform from noon to 3 p.m. Seating will start at 11 a.m. and a la carte meals can be ordered before the performance.
The show is recommended for adults only. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on the Polished Kreative’s Eventbrite page.
For additional information on Arlington County Pride, visit https://arlvapride.com/arlington-pride-weekend.
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