I don’t know about you, but I happen to feel extremely displaced after the grand ol’ gay Pride parade. My body is bedazzled with glitter, my heart-pounds outside of its chest, and adrenaline simply swishes through my usually lackluster bloodstream. I am in no way ready to go home, babes. I don’t care if I have to work tomorrow (pro tip: take the Monday after Pride off); I want to continue to party.
But where to go, where to go? I always wonder, overwhelmed.
Well, If you’re smart (which you are), you’ll saunter on over to the amazing as f*ck, Proud As F*ck WorldPride 2019 party, hosted by the legendary *snapshot* NYC productions. Oh, you know about *snapshot* NYC productions, correct? If you don’t, here’s a little blurb about the classic *snapshot* parties that used to take place back in the day:
“Snapshot was THE BEST party ever! It’s where I came into my own. The amazing part was—this was before social media, mind you—was that they would take pictures and you could go onto their site and see the amazingness from the night before!” party-goer Meghan Dziuma, enthusiastically tells GO. “The only places you could see pictures of women partying was *snapshot* and GO magazine. Seeing my picture in *snapshot* was the first time I saw myself with my people.”
And guess what? The *snapshot* Proud As F*CK reunion pride party is still going to be at Bar 13. It’s beyond perfect because it’s located right in the beating heart of beautiful Union Square, which is off the WorldPride parade route. Speaking of Bar 13. Lez. Talk. Venue. Purr.
Bar 13 is a three-floor venue (practically unheard of in Manhattan!) which includes an open-air roof-deck with three wonderfully accessible bars and two floors of wildly diverse, queer as f*ck, talented as f*ck DJs!
It’s been five years since the *snapshot* productions crew came together for a fabulous Pride moment, so it’s going to be a very special, emotionally charged (in a good way) reunion in the “co-created, organic Love bubble” that is this magically queer event!
Let’s get down to the deets:
Date: Sunday, June 30th
Time: 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM (a twelve-hour party?! Purr).
Location: Bar 13, 121 University Place, New York, NY 10003
Price: $10 Advance tickets (and Before 8 PM at the door) a STEAL!
$20 AFTER 8 PM at the door +Community Accessible Pricing+
Lucky for you all, we scored an exclusive interview with Shana Fried of *snapshot* who is hosting the party alongside Sabrina Haley, Nicco Beretta, and Erika Izquierdo!
GO Magazine: Why do you feel so passionate about the Proud As F*ck World Pride party?! What is the history of Proud As F*ck?
Shana Fried: “I am so excited for Pride this year. It’s wonderful that people are coming in from all over the world, its magical that we get to celebrate the bold and courageous souls who paved the way for us, and its exciting to be able to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of this pride event that has shaped so much of my life and the lives of so many in our community. I started a weekly party called *snapshot* in the spring of 2004. That year, we decided to host our first pride party and Bar 13 welcomed us…Proud As F*ck was born. We’ve held it at Bar 13 since 2004 but took a little hiatus to The Delancey for a couple of years when we moved the weekly there. The party is always so much fun, filled with amazing people and incredible energy. We have three floors – 2 dancefloors and a roof deck, every floor has a bar. As you can imagine, the roof is the place to be especially when the sun is still out but all three floors are super fun. We have some really great DJ’s this year and generally, people are just really excited to come together again.”
GO: Why do you feel like this event is unique?
Shana Fried: “We started the party with a very clear intent. At the time (2004), queer parties were super segregated by race, gender, and party preference. There really was no one place where everyone could come together. That really bothered me. I wanted to hang out with all of my friends, no matter what “box” they fit into. So we created this super welcoming platform that encouraged diversity and being different. We were the “others”. We were home to the non-binary, the gender fluid, the trans community, the whole LGBTQI spectrum, straight people who didn’t suck, queers – we chose the banner “queers” but it applied to every single one of us who never before felt like they truly had a home. It was a magical time – and it continued for well over a decade.
“At this time in NYC nightlife, there was nothing like this, it was refreshing and new and inspiring and *snapshot* really felt like home. Also at the time, and you’re gonna laugh, we had all just started using Friendster and Myspace. Having a profile pic was just becoming a thing, and it made sense to us to hire photographers to capture what we were getting into at our parties…thus the name *snapshot* was born – we wanted to “capture you in the act.” The name Proud As F*ck came about because I just felt all the Pride party names were always so cheesy. Proud As F*ck seemed to really embody who we were.”
GO: What sort of vibe do you hope the party has?
Shana Fried: “As I mentioned above, the vibe is always 100% WELCOMING. We welcome everyone, period. We don’t tolerate hate, violence, or anything that messes with the vibe. We are full of love, laughter, music, happiness, dancing, smiling, picture taking, catching up with old friends, hitting on cute people, meeting your new best friend, and generally just having a great party.”
GO: Can you give our readers a talent/venue rundown?
Shana Fried: “Ok, so the venue is great. We have two separate floors that each have their own vibe with DJ’s, dancing, bars, bathrooms, projected images, the whole thing. It’s like walking from one party to another but you’re doing it in waves with all your friends. Its super fun. The rooftop has a bar but no music because of noise complaints in the neighborhood. But it’s a great vibe up there. Lots of great conversations, a nice break to be able to approach the cutie you saw on the dancefloor, a great place to have a smoke, take a breath, get some air. Its such an important space for a long day partying.
“Our talent is incredible. We’ve had some amazing DJ’s cycle through the Proud As F*ck lineup and most of the DJ’s performing on Pride this year are returning veterans. Lauren Flax has played since the very early days and is really doing amazing things right now. Lauren is a good friend and I’m thrilled to have her with us again this year. Boston Chery will bring the heat, this will be Boston’s first time with us, so I’m super excited about that. Adair is everywhere right now, great party DJ, amazing personality. Elosi has a lot of support in the community and does events on their own. We all just played together for Brooklyn Pride and it was a party! Roze Royze is just incredible, super versatile, has an enormous record collection and has been DJing for 20 years, she knows exactly what to play and how to play it. Lezz Van Halen and Uncle Larry are going to do a tag team set and they both play super fun party music. Lezz is a Proud As F*ck veteran and is joining us from Denver. Finally, Noa D is one of the original residents of *snapshot* and Proud As F*ck and always knows how to get the party started. The lineup this year is fire, we’re never going to stop dancing!
“We also have some special folks hosting with us. Devin-Norelle will bring the party and ensure everyone is having the time of their lives. Set It Off is a monthly event that focuses on queer hip hop and has gained incredible traction these past few years, we’re honored to be partnering with them. Queer Abstract is also a recurring event that features QTPOC and we could not be happier than to be partnering with them for this event. Finally, Posture Media who brings you Posture Magazine and all kinds of other creative endeavors for the queer community has partnered with us for this Proud As F*ck. Our hosts this year are all fixtures in the community in their own right, a partnership with them this year has really strengthened our presence and given us such a wider reach.”
GO: Anything else you would like to add?
Shana Fried: “Just that there are so many events surrounding Pride, there always are and especially this year. But I have to say that our party truly is unique. The people, the location, the music. We’re all just here to love each other and have a good time. We’re super centrally located in Union Square off the parade route and by all the trains. We’ve been doing this so long that it’s become a staple in the community. We welcome you and all of your friends!”
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