A drag dinner, Pride Picnic and more: A guide to 2022 Sheboygan Pride events
SHEBOYGAN - Sheboygan County’s second in-person Pride Picnic will be June 25, with live music, drag performances, food trucks and more.
A handful of local events in the week leading up to the Pride Picnic will celebrate and strengthen the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sheboygan’s first Pride Picnic was held in 2019, the same year the Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance, an all-volunteer organization, was founded, and the pandemic has impacted events since, with a virtual celebration last year.
“We know the 2022 Sheboygan Pride Picnic is more important to our community than ever,” Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance Chairperson Carolynn Lee said.
“Unfortunately, we are aware of Pride flags being vandalized and ripped down from Sheboygan residents’ porches in the past couple of weeks,” Lee said. “As this very real intimidation and hate is happening to our community locally, we also commemorate the sixth anniversary of the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub, and of course the Stonewall Riots that ignited the first Pride in New York 53 years ago.”
“The Alliance looks forward to welcoming our beautiful queer community and straight allies to an afternoon celebrating Pride, unity and solidarity,” Lee added.
More: Pride Centers at UWGB Sheboygan and Manitowoc campuses help to form supportive communities
People can also celebrate the community by supporting local queer and ally-owned businesses including, but not limited to: Paradigm Coffee and Music, Goodside Grocery Co-Op, 8th Street Ale Haus, Greece E Spoon, Urbane, El Camino, Las Brisa’s Mexican Restaurant, My Place Bar and Grill, Longhouse Axe Bar, Brick and Mortar Hemp Co., Green Bicycle Co., the Game Board, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Braun Hair, House of Spiritual Vibes Botanica, Chicory Root Tattoo Studio, Queen Bee Skincare, Koffie Trader and more, said Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance Vice President Nick Pluim.
Here's more about the Sheboygan Pride events that are coming up.
Friday: 'Burritos and Babes' drag dinner
Sheboygan’s first-ever drag dinner and show, presented by Mama’s Events, will be Friday at El Camino.
Tickets are $40 and include dinner, with a portion of profits going toward Sheboygan Pride.
Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. with the show starting around 6 p.m. at 823 Michigan Ave. in Sheboygan. Email emad2289@yahoo.com to make reservations in advance. Walk-ins welcome.
June 17-23: Axes for Allies Tie Dye
Sheboygan’s Longhouse Axe Bar will hold “Axes for Allies,” a celebration of Pride, from June 17 through June 23.
Every axe-throwing reservation will come with tie-dye supplies for people to dye items of clothing. (People should take their own shirt, bandana, shorts, towel, etc.) Tie-dyed items can be picked up June 24.
Reservations are $25 per player plus tax for one hour of throwing, according to the axe bar website. A portion of the week’s proceeds will go to the Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance.
June 23: 'Ways of Being' Studio Tent at first Levitt AMP concert
At the John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s first summer Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series event, queer artist Molly Hassler will partner with the Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance to help community members take part in a community art project.
People can visit the Studio Tent during the free event on the City Green from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 23 to take part in Hassler’s project, working off JMKAC’s current theme of “Ways of Being.”
June 25: Pride Picnic
The 2022 Sheboygan County Pride Picnic, a free community event, will be from noon to 6 p.m. June 25 at the City Green on New York Avenue in Sheboygan.
The event will include drag performances and live music from local, regional and national LGBTQ+ musical artists, including Sheboygan-area artists David Bourgeois and Bailey Parker, regional artists Emily White and Katie Dahl, and as the headliner, L.A.-based songwriter, musician and queer icon, Bitch.
The headliner's stage name intentionally reclaims the slur often used against women, femmes and anyone who doesn’t play by “the rules,” according to a Sheboygan County LGBTQ Alliance news release.
The Pride Picnic will also have booths featuring local LGBTQ+ artists and nonprofits that support the community, food trucks and family-friendly activities including a Drag Queen Photo Booth, face painting and more.
More: Pride stories
Reach Maya Hilty at 920-400-7485 or MHilty@sheboygan.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @maya_hilty.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Pride Month events include drag dinner, picnic, live music
